John Obi Mikel returns to break down the biggest stories in world football.

25:06John Obi Mikel:Such a kind man. Well-respected man. Loves the football club. Was always involved. Every day he was involved. if he's not there he's making phone calls how are things going how things he wants to know how every single player is feeling and when you work with such owner that gives you everything you need that listens to you provides everything you want as a manager as a player if he picks up that phone call and calls you you'll listen and I just think that's what happened as huge as that Manchester United contract would have been as huge as it would have been for Jose Mourinho for him to turn that down Everybody knowing that he's always said he wanted to manage Manchester United, but to do a U-turn and come back to Chelsea.

25:53John Obi Mikel:It says everything. It just says everything. Yeah, of course. But then if you look at, I think that season, he went on again and won the title, didn't he? So if you join Manchester United, would he have won the title with Manchester United? I'm not sure that squad was there when Swarik's first and left. Maybe the squad wasn't there, but he's looked at it and thought, let me go back to Chelsea. With the players that we have, the winning mentality that we have, knowing that if he goes back there, he knows the place, he knows the people and we're all absolutely welcoming back, you know, and we went on again to win the Premier League.

26:24John Obi Mikel:It just says so much about the man and how much he loves Chelsea and how much the people that run the club. For Jose Mourinho to say, well, you know what? I know, yes, Alex Fexy will have a verbal agreement, but this is my love. This is my club that I absolutely adore. And I'm going to say no to you. I'm going to say no to Manchester United. And I'm going to go back to my beloved Chelsea because Roman Abramovich has picked up the phone call and asked me to come back. There is no better owner to work for. There is no better owner to go back and say, I'm here at your service. I want to continue the success that we've created in this football club.

27:06John Obi Mikel:The mentality that we've created, which is winning titles and being successful. and he's decided I'm going to go back there and I'm going to win a title or two again with this Chelsea football club. It just says a lot about the owner that we had and the people that run the football club which is Marina Granovskaia who's on top of everything. It just says so much about the football club. I know the answer to this already but his documentary coming out on Netflix this week, watching it. You've been watching that, right? Of course I'm going to be watching that. Of course. Who's not going to watch yours every time he box office oh his box office isn't it his box office there's something there that surely there's going to be something that you pick out from there you know i think this is just a little teaser you know with the manchester ital what but surely i mean i'm sure everybody would get their popcorns out and we all sit in top of you know in front of the screen and just waiting for it because you know joseph morino if you mentioned top five managers ever in the you know in the world i think he should be there there's no question about that jose has he's had a number of jobs in the last 10 years yeah he's maybe not perceived to be an elite elite manager at this stage he's now going back to real madrid a club that suits him suits his personality he's got an unbelievable squad of players yeah is this a tailor-made job for him to come and have success right away and is this a job that can elevate him back to how we perceive jose as Ancelotti you're Guardiola is he going to is he going to put him back up there?

28:41John Obi Mikel:Listen I think Jose is not living in an illusion where he thinks he's right now he's still the best manager in the world I think if you ask Jose he's a truthful guy he's an honest human being not just as a manager but as a person who will tell you listen right now I am not the best manager in the world there's no question about that but is he still good enough to manage Real Madrid and be successful? 100%. Is he going to walk through that door and get those players to play well again and know that they're representing the best club in the world? Yes. Is he going to get them to put all their differences aside and represent the football club and represent the badge and continue the success of that football club?

29:19John Obi Mikel:A club that has won the Champions League 15 times. The most successful club in the world. if there is one manager that's going to get all those players to put their differences aside and absolutely do their job is Jose Mourinho. The way he gets the players to perform. You can see straight away he's giving it to Bernardo Siva, hasn't he? He says, this is a guy that goes on holidays. He doesn't want to train during holidays. He come back. He's not fifth. He knows he has to work hard. It started already, hasn't it? He started already. Getting into his head. Trying to push him. because he absolutely needs Bernardo Silva.

29:57John Obi Mikel:That's what he does. He gets into you. Because he knows if he gets into you, all the players are gonna look at him and say, you know what? He's getting on Bernardo Silva. He's gonna come to me next if I don't start performing. That's Jose Mourinho. He doesn't hide what he feels or how he feels about a player if you're not performing. So for me, I think he is that guy. He's not washed, he's not finished. He's still a top elite manager. Maybe not the best in the world. Obviously, right now you say Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, you know, are the best managers in the world. But Jose is still there.

30:31John Obi Mikel:And that's why he's back at Red Madrid. You know, Frentino Perez is not stupid to bring Jose Mourinho back at the football club. He knows and he believes that they will be successful again. And Jose Mourinho is that guy that would bring them back, take them back to where they belong, competing to win the Champions League. So I think he's still that guy. But the players that they have, the squad that they have, Vinny Giniar signing again is going to be there for a very long time. You know, Mbappe, Belliam, Valvade, Bernardo Silva, the squad that they have. And now they've also signed Diomande. It's just absolutely incredible.

31:10John Obi Mikel:They also have Rodrigo as well. It's just incredible the amount of players that they have, the squad that they have. And to top it up, when you bring a manager like Jose Mourinho, it's only one way. It's just upwards and upwards for them. I think they're going to bounce back massively this season. You just mentioned Diamande there. Signed this week,£120 million. 19 years old. Incredible. The most expensive African player. You're a big fan of him, aren't you? I'm a huge fan of him. You know, I watched the kid, you know, at the World Cup for Ivory Coast. A player that is very, very good on the ball.

31:47John Obi Mikel:A player that is dedicated to work on both sides of the game in terms of attacking and defending as well. He knows the game. He reads the game really, really well. He knows he has to do not only the beautiful side of the game, but also the dirty side of the game, which is defending, tracking your man back. I watched him during the World Cup, and he absolutely did that to perfection. What a fantastic player, a young player, very, very direct. When he gets the ball, there's only one thing in his mind trying to dribble past his man, go past his man, create chances, score goals. Very, very direct.

32:22John Obi Mikel:Both fits really, really good. He can play with his right foot. He can play with his left foot as well. He gives you that dimension, that variety that you need. It doesn't matter where you play him from the right or from the left. He's very, very adaptable to whatever the manager needs him to do and he's just absolutely superb 120 million that's a huge amount of money but i think he's very very young 19 or 20 years old there's so so many years for him to to continue his trade and continue to improve this room for improvement definitely absolutely if there is one manager that would get the best out of him that will teach him the way to play to do on the both ends of the game is Jose Mourinho.

33:07John Obi Mikel:You have to track your man back. It doesn't matter who you are. You have to do the defensive side of the game. And I watched the kid in the World Cup. I think he's ready for it. He's strong. He's powerful. He's quick. He's got balance in him. You know, he can dribble past people and which is just absolutely superb to see. And an African player as well. You've just said it, the most expensive African player ever, right? It's just absolutely incredible. We keep producing some incredible players. African football is just going upwards and upwards. And there is no question about that. There's more to come from African players.

33:45It just shows that once we create an atmosphere

33:53John Obi Mikel:that African players, kids, youths, academy players in Africa can continue to grow, develop as players. there's so much more we can do you know not just in Africa but all around the world because we are capable of it you know we have the power we have the pace we have the quality we have the ability we have the potential to be great and I just hope that this kid going to Real Madrid that right now will be something absolutely special not just for him for African football you know every kid all around Africa looking up to him and saying I want to be like him I want to play for Real Madrid one day this is just something absolutely amazing I can't wait to watch him I can't wait to watch him because I think he's going to be absolutely electric for Real Madrid quick direct he will score goals and I think he will be successful at Real Madrid the the next generation have now got another role model to of course of course of course that's the thing you know when you look at the likes of George Ware, paved the way, Jejo Kocha, Kanu, paved the way for us growing up.

35:01John Obi Mikel:And then, you know, Didier Drog, Asamuileto, you know, Yaya Torre, this is guys I played with, against. You know, and now this kid as well coming through and now, you know, there's so much more for African players and you look at the Moroccan team, what they achieved, the players that they have. You look at the Sanicalese team, you look at the Nigerian team, what the players that we have, you know, the likes of Victor Simer, you know, and all these guys. There's so much more to come from African teams. But the right things has to be put in place. If the right structure is not put in place, we cannot succeed.

35:37John Obi Mikel:We cannot get better. Unless we continue to improve and put the structure right, we cannot continue. We will be stuck. We're right here right now. We can grow. We can be much better. We can get even higher and higher. We can go even higher and higher. But the right structure needs to be put in place. You can't succeed without putting the right structure, the right foundation. And right now, we don't have it in African football. We don't absolutely have it. We have to improve. We have to get better. Seeing what has just happened. $120 million. For Ray Madrid to go for an African player to pay$120 million, it's just insane.

36:14John Obi Mikel:You couldn't see that for years back in the day. That wouldn't happen. But it just shows where African football is right now. What we're doing. How we're growing. We saw African teams represent the continent at the World Cup. What we did at the World Cup. The bigger teams, the smaller teams. Cape Verde. What they did at the World Cup. Morocco going all the way as well. Getting close again at the World Cup. Congo. What we saw at the World Cup. It's just insane because what we need, we need to do more. We need to improve. We need to put structure in place. Improve the structure of how we want because the next generation are coming.

37:02John Obi Mikel:The next generation are going to get better, even better. Because right now, the tools are there for them to get better. The tools are there for them to get better. So we have to invest. We have to put the right structure in place for the next generation to come through and make sure that they have the right environment to get better as players, as football players, as sports, whatever you do, football, athletics, basketball, whatever. You can do it. We've seen that. So I just hope that we get the right people to continue to improve outcome football because there's so much more to come. Really exciting time for Diamande, for Real Madrid.

37:45Yeah. I want to take you back to Chelsea. news this week of Mikhail Mudrik's ban being lifted or we spoke off air and okay we'll call it a lifted ban 615 days since his last Chelsea appearance made his appearance again Juventus pre-season game what's your thoughts on him coming back into the squad?

38:12John Obi Mikel:Whatever's happened to him he's back in the squad he's back in the team

38:20John Obi Mikel:is that is that what he because obviously he came to the club he didn't he wasn't pulling trees that was when he signed yeah straight away he didn't set the wall on fire no so is this kind of what he needed hasn't played for over two years right just under two years just under two years kinda yeah so is this what he needed is this a reset that he needed in terms of obviously the kid is coming from a country at war, you know, in Ukraine. A lot of things is going on there in his home country. Mentally as well, how does that affect him as a person as well as a player? And of course, Chelsea as well, being all over the place in the past couple of seasons, players coming in, players going out.

39:01John Obi Mikel:How does that affect him as well? Was he looking at you thinking, this is a shit show, what is happening at the football club? And now not playing for just under two years, is how does that, is that the reset that he needed? He's taking time off. but again, mentally, is this something he's coming back to knowing that he's got so much to prove right now? He's sad. Sometimes you need to take a step back, look at yourself and think, how do I change my game? How do I improve? Sometimes that's probably what you need, that reset. It's taking a step back, reset yourself mentally, physically as well, and look at your game and think, how do I improve myself?

39:39John Obi Mikel:How do I get better? Next time I get my opportunity. And now this is opportunities back in the sport, it's back in the team. So maybe this probably this is what he needs, but the question is, what would the club do with him? Is the club ready to keep him? Is the club ready to give him another chance, to give him a chance to show himself, to show what he can do? I watched him in a couple of clips in the pre-seasons. He looked like he's hungry. He looks like there's fire in his eyes. He wants to show there's something there. He wants to prove people wrong. And of course he has to do that because, you know, there's so many negative things that has happened to him.

40:21John Obi Mikel:He has to now come back and prove that there's so much positive that can come from him as well. And now he has the opportunity to do that, to show the world what he can do as a player and as a person. How does he conduct himself as a player, you know, as a person on and off the pitch? That's what we want to see. How does he play? but it's going to take him time absolutely going to take him time because physically if you haven't played in two years or whatever physically as well definitely you're going to struggle you need a bit of time to be able to catch up to get back to where you to your standard so I know if the club are ready to keep him they have to give him time if they want to loan him to go and get minutes and keep playing week in week out and get minutes under his belt I think probably that should be the best bet because obviously right now we don't expect Modric to start week in week out for us so to make the squad also is going to be you know difficult for him so probably get him out on loan get him to play maybe one season on loan where he knows he will play week in week out and get minutes under his belt and then we see next season maybe he might come back when he starts to look sharper and sharper getting his fitness back and getting back to the standard that he belongs then we might try to see how do we integrate him into the squad but right now I think the best bet for the club is to make sure they find the best club for him to go and play week in, week out.

41:46John Obi Mikel:Because the kid has got talent. The kid has got potential. He's quick. He's direct. He's very good on the ball. He can dribble past people. We paid a lot of money to get him to the football club as well. So we, so the potential is there. So get him out, get him to play football, get him back to, you know, playing a lot of games. Because you get better by playing games, not training. by playing games week in week out and I'm sure the club knows they have to do that I think you hit the nail on the head young player coming to a new country at a time when Chelsea the ins and outs of Chelsea back then with a young experienced manager the club was was not as structured and as grounded as maybe it is now you need a structure don't you and when you have managers coming in and out you know chopping and changing players coming in and out chopping and changing as a player it will affect you back in our day okay yes we're chopping and changing but the squad was always there The spine of the team was always there.

42:40John Obi Mikel:So if we change, probably one or two come in. If we change the manager, maybe one or two come in. But the spine of the club, the squad, the people were always there. So we were all just strengthening. Maybe one or two, one or two, one or two. But the absolutely core squad was there. But you look at the last couple of two, three seasons, every transfer window, there's 10 players coming through the door. There's 15 coming through. That as a player, as a young player, you look at it and think, what the fuck is going on here? This is, you know, it's a shit show happening here. So there's a lot that's happened in the past couple of seasons.

43:15John Obi Mikel:And that's why I said, for him, it probably, that was a good reset that he needed. He wasn't part of the whole shit show that's been happening. And now it looks like we are starting to get a kind of a structure. The owners are starting to understand the football club, what the football club demands, which is a structure and be successful. And it looks like Xabi Alonso is going to be the guy that will be at a football club for a long time. But that will have to come with success as well. Where are we finishing the league? Do we win titles? Are we struggling to stay in the league, you know, in terms of relegation battles?

43:56John Obi Mikel:So a lot has depend on Xabi Alonso staying at the football club. But I hope that he gets the time that he needs, obviously, to install his philosophy and his DNA the way he wants his team to play. We can see a little bit of that now in the preseason. You know, I think he's still going to go with three in the back. But is that the Chelsea way? If that's what's going to bring us success, and if it's exciting, why not? Of course, I'm all for it. I want to touch upon, finally, where you sort of analyzed the 22 days left of the transfer window. How you analyze where Chelsea are right now. Through the door, you've got Morgan Rodgers.

44:34Yeah. Lacroix from Crystal Palace. Kendra from Sporting, who looks like a really exciting wing back or wide player. You've then brought Paulista in from Atalanta. Experience in Henderson and Welbeck. I think maybe what Alonso is doing there is a sort of Xhaka model when he had him at Leverkusen, someone to bring in and set standards.

44:56John Obi Mikel:Yeah, but we talked about that with Xhaka. Xhaka was playing. Xhaka was the key guy. He was the key man. Of course. On the pitch. So it's a massive difference. I understand what he's trying to do, but Xhaka was the guy for Bayern Leverkusen. Everything was going through him. He was vocal. He was the guy that says the tempo. He was aggressive. He was the player that everyone was looking up to, was listening to. He was the coach on the pitch. And that's what you got from Xhaka. So you can't compare Xhaka with Welbeck, who's not going to be starting. Or Henderson. With Henderson, who's not going to be starting?

45:30John Obi Mikel:So how does that affect the team? How does that experience rub off the players? Yes, sometimes they'll listen to you in the dressing room, on the training pitch. But once they cross that white line, those young players are there on their own. Experience, yes. But experience on the pitch. A player that the players will turn around and look at. A player that will say, okay. We know it's not going well. Let's stick together. Talk to the players. Talk to the young players. Bring everybody together on the pitch and tell people what to do. Yes, comparison with Schalke, but Schalke was on the pitch. That is a massive difference.

46:14John Obi Mikel:And again, we talked about John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba as well, the leaders, you know, Peter Cech, the leaders back then when we were there. But the difference was they were playing week and week out on the pitch. can you tell Thomas Tuchel this then because Henderson's probably been in the last five squads and probably got another two or three left in for England you got rid of Cucrea and Garnaccio as well if you look at them signings as of like I said 22 days 20 days before the transfer window shot happy with that in general we still need to get a lot of players out of the door because we have what 45 46 players and I've said it again I said it last week it's a huge huge problem.

46:56John Obi Mikel:It's a headache for the manager. The manager doesn't need that headache right now where he's looking at the plays. And the last thing you want is a bum squad because the bum squad does not work. Having so many players training away from the squad, training on the other side of the pitch or being in the academy dressing room, it doesn't help the squad. It doesn't help the team. We need to find the right team for those players. It's our duty as a club. It's our job as a club because we brought those players into this football club. We brought those players in this situation. If you keep bringing new players, you have to make way for the other players to go and find a good club, for them to continue their career, continue to improve.

47:42John Obi Mikel:Because no matter what, they're still our players unless you sell them permanently. They're still a Chelsea player. The club have to find a way. I'm sure the sporting directors, they are working tirelessly to make sure that they find the right teams for those players because those players need to play. We need to get players out of the door and we don't need, the last thing Chebby Alonzo need is players that are not happy walking around or walking around on social media, posting on social media, showing that, oh, the club is not treating me well. Oh, look where I am. I'm in the academy. Because we saw that last season.

48:17John Obi Mikel:We're Ryan Sterling. and the rest of the other guys posting on social media and saying that they're not happy how the club is maltreating them. They're not happy with how the club is treating. You don't need that. You don't need all the negativity that's going to come with that. Get rid of them. Find them a club and provide the squad for Xabi Alonso to train and get the best out of the squad that he needs, the players that he wants, the players that he needs to get us to have a good season. This is a huge season for us. I said it last week. It's a massive season for us. Every Chelsea fan is sitting and waiting to see what Xabi Alonso will do with this squad.

49:01John Obi Mikel:It's been years. All we keep hearing is a fucking project. It's been so many years now. Oh, it's a fucking project. When will we start winning? When is this time? If you keep chopping and changing managers, that's your problem. The fans demand winning. The fans demand success. The fans demand titles. We saw our noisy neighbors last season go on to win the Premier League. We don't want that to keep happening the next two, three, four seasons.

49:36John Obi Mikel:London is blue and London has to remain blue. We are Chelsea Football Club. We can't sit for the next two or three seasons and watch Arsenal continue to win the Premier League. We want to get back to that. We dominated the Premier League back in our day, winning titles. The club has to continue the culture, the success of the football club. I am not saying that, yes, time is given. Yes, rebuilding process is given. But it's been years now that these owners have come in. it's time to start winning. It's time to start winning titles because our fans are running, you know, impatient right now because they want to see us get back to who we are, where we belong.

50:25John Obi Mikel:And that's winning titles because, you know, Arsenal are strengthening again. It looks like they're going to go on and defend the titles. We saw how they celebrated last season. You know, it was all red. It was, no. That's us. That's Chelsea Football Club. It does seem like Alonso is that guy now. I think a lot of us have a lot of confidence in him as a manager. The owners seem to have been learning as they go. And I've got them maybe the right appointment. Now you look at what Maresca was doing at the time, was building. Building. But then again, it's the same owners that had Liam Rossini in five months ago.

51:02John Obi Mikel:Yeah, but they said, of course, now we knew what happened for Enzo Maresca to leave. The football club has come out and said they didn't fire him. They didn't sack him. And knowing what I know, okay, they didn't fire him. He did what he did, which is not correct. When you have a contract at the football club, especially when you are the head of the organization, you don't go around and start sniffing around. You don't do that. Respect your club. Respect your owners. Respect your fans. Respect the football club. Because you have signed the contract. So you respect the contract that you've signed.

51:43John Obi Mikel:It doesn't matter as a player, as a manager. Respect your contract that you've signed. And when you've done that, I think you lose respect of the football club. Not just the owners, the players as well. And I think that's what happened. But moving on from that, he was building something amazing. I said it when he left the football club, Enzo Morisca. That he was building something exciting. Something that we can see that's going to grow. that's going to get better and better. You can see there was light under the tunnel. We can see there was somewhere where we were going. The building process is starting to pay off.

52:18John Obi Mikel:We're starting to win trophies. The club woke up. You know, we won the Conference League. Okay, maybe not the best, but we won titles. But now, it looks like Xabi Alonso is that guy. And I expect him to be giving time. I'm all for him giving time because I think he's a brilliant young manager he's a good manager but he needs to be given the players that he need and I think right now what has changed which is good he is now a manager not a coach the model of the football club is starting to change you know now he can have a little say of the players that come into the football club and the players that leaves which is something we didn't have before now he can make decisions on the players that he wants.

53:01John Obi Mikel:And you can look at it now and see that some of the signings that we've brought in through the door looks like a signing that Xabi Alonso will make because he always needs that kind of Xhaka player that you need. I think there was an approach for Xhaka, but he didn't want to come. I think so. And then we decided to go for Henderson. So I just hope that he's giving time and we get back to building a team because this is a team that has a lot of potential. Whichever way you look at it, it's a team that has a lot of potential. A team that is very, very good with a lot of individual quality. The job for Tabby Alonzo is how does he bring that squad together?

53:50John Obi Mikel:How does he bring those individual qualities together and make sure that we play as a team, that we develop as a team, that he builds something special, a team that we go on. I don't expect us to win a title this season. I've said it. But I want to see us progressing. I want to see us competing. Not losing week in, week out. I want to see us getting better. If he tries to build something that I can see that is progressing, that is getting better, this season, that leads us into next season. And the next season, I want to see us even much, much better. That's when I'll probably say, okay, now is the time for us to judge Xabi Alonso.

54:30John Obi Mikel:What do you have, mate? You have to show us now what you have. You've had a season to build what you wanted. Now next season is the time for us to go on and compete in terms of winning the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, because that's where we want to, that's where we belong. That's who we are. So he knows that. And I hope that he gets the time that he needs. But Chelsea Football Club and the fans, they want success. Make no mistake about that. it's been a lot of years of projects like i said it's no longer project it is absolutely now and i said again the players know that we they have to perform those players are not stupid they're not naive enough to know that last season was not good enough their places to hide last year of course they were not good enough you look at yourself in the mirror as players, as individuals.

55:27John Obi Mikel:And you can tell yourself the honest truth. The standard that they displayed last season, it's not the Chelsea way. It's not the Chelsea standard. The bar is really high when you're walking through that football club. The bar is really high. It's been set. If you're coming into that football club, you have to know, you have to maintain that standard. And last season was not good enough. They have something to prove. They have to get back to performing the Chelsea way and keeping that standard. And it starts from this season. A lot of players underperformed last season. Cole Palmer knows. Yes, there was injuries, but he knows this season he has to perform.

56:13John Obi Mikel:He has to get back to who he is. We know what a player he is. A fantastic player. And I'm also excited to see what Morgan Rogers bring to the football club because I think his creativity his goal scoring everything that he brings as a player is going to massively help us is going to improve us as a team and as a squad exciting times ahead Chris will be back for next taking the Mikel after his well deserved break Chris is in the world if you're watching we need him don't be daft this is Chris's scene of course we need you Chris you are the man without you the show is nothing there you go nice way to wrap it up John thank you very much and back next week.

56:52Yes, back next week. Upwards and upwards.