Nicolas Jackson (Getty)
John Obi Mikel believes Chelsea will not win the Premier League with Nicolas Jackson as their only striker and has urged the club to reignite their interest in Victor Osimhen.
Chelsea have suffered a slip in the Premier League title race over the festive period as they are without a win in their last four matches and are now 10 points behind leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand.
Jackson has scored nine Premier League goals this season but has also struggled for form in recent weeks having found the net just once in his last six appearances.
Chelsea came close to signing Osimhen last summer before the Nigeria international left Napoli to join Galatasaray on loan for the season.
And Obi Mikel believes Chelsea must bring in a new striker to stand any chance of closing the gap on Liverpool.
‘We are creating chances, we are still playing well, we are still doing the right things but we’re not clinical enough, we’re not scoring goals,’ Obi Mikel said on The Obi One Podcast.
‘We’ve talked about getting another top, top striker who can win us these kind of games, difficult games where if Nicolas Jackson is not firing on all cylinders you can give him a rest and then get someone else to come into the team and try to win us games and score goals.
‘We are not clinical enough, he is not scoring enough goals. He puts himself in the right positions but then he’s not finishing, he’s not scoring enough.
Chelsea came close to signing Victor Osimhen last summer (Getty)
‘He’s not a striker who’s going to get us to the top four or win us the Premier League title. He’s not that striker. I don’t think he can get us over the line in terms of winning trophies. For me, he’s a player who can link up play, he’s good on the ball but he’s not scoring enough goals.
‘If we had Victor Osimhen or the guy from Sporting, Viktor Gyokeres, trust me, we’d still be competing for the Premier League.
‘Nicolas is not scoring enough, the finishing, he needs to find a way. For me it’s a bit of a worry because we’re not scoring enough.
‘Without Cole Palmer I don’t know where we would’ve been this season, definitely not where we are right now, he’s carrying the team on his shoulders, he’s creating chances, scoring goals, what more can he do?
‘One goal in six [from Jackson] is not good enough. You talk about top, top strikers, look at [Alexander] Isak at Newcastle, he’s flying, that’s what we need.’
John Obi Mikel says Alexander Isak is setting the example at Newcastle United (Getty)
Obi Mikel also insists that Jackson should not view Chelsea’s desire to sign an additional striker in a negative light, pointing out that Didier Drogba faced strong competition for a place during his time at Stamford Bridge.
‘The club should’ve done that before the start of the season but they didn’t do that, I don’t think they’re going to do that in January but in the summer I definitely think the club should get another centre forward,’ Obi Mikel said.
‘They’ve done everything they have to do for Nicolas, they’ve given him a new contract but you can’t keep relying on one person.
‘What did Roman [Abramovich] do every year? He brings in another top striker. We had the likes to Nicolas Anelka coming to the football club to help Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, [Andriy] Shevchenko. It doesn’t create a problem, it’s healthy competition, it’s for the betterment of the football club.
‘If you want to become successful and win the Premier League, you have to do that and Didier knew that.
‘Roman explained to him [Drogba], ‘yes, you are the top man but injuries could come, dip in form, what are we going to do then?’. Nicolas should not be angry that I’m saying this, it’s for the betterment of the club and for him to succeed.’
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