Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has ruthlessly snubbed one of his most influential former Blues teammates when naming his all-time Premier League XI.
Football FanCast have now ranked the greatest players in Premier League history, and there is certainly no shortage of Chelsea players among them, with former captain John Terry named as the best centre-back to have ever played in the top flight.
Petr Cech also tops the list of goalkeepers, while Didier Drogba is regarded as the ninth-best striker in Premier League history, having maintained a fantastic record in front of goal throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, culminating in the Blues winning the 2012 Champions League final.
Season Drogba PL appearances Goal contributions
2004-05 26 15
2005-06 29 26
2006-07 36 24
2007-08 19 14
2008-09 24 9
2009-10 32 40
2010-11 36 24
2011-12 24 6
As such, it will come as no surprise to learn that Terry, Cech and Drogba all feature in Obi Mikel's all-time Premier League XI, but the former central midfielder has ruthlessly snubbed one of his former teammates.
As reported by talkSPORT, the Nigerian named N'Golo Kante and Paul Scholes as his two central midfielders, leaving out Frank Lampard, and he even went on to clarify that the ex-England international wouldn't have featured in a three-man midfield either.
frank-lampard-coventry-city
The former Chelsea man said: "Let me just say, if I was going to go 4-3-3, my three players would have been Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Steven Gerrard. I just think they're all very similar."
Lampard undoubtedly one of the greatest Premier League midfielders
It is a little strange that the 38-year-old opted to omit his former teammate, given that the Englishman is without doubt one of the best Premier League midfielders of all time, particularly impressing on the front foot.
The Coventry City manager chipped in with a remarkable 211 goals and 149 assists in 648 professional appearances for Chelsea, cementing his place in the Premier League Hall of Fame in the process.
That said, Kante is also a fantastic choice from a more defensive point of view, given what the Frenchman achieved at Leicester City and Stamford Bridge, winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the 2020-21 Champions League and the 2018-19 Europa League.
Lampard played in a golden era of midfielders, sharing the stage with the likes of Scholes and Gerrard, and a number of other former Chelsea stars, who also feature in our list of the best Premier League midfielders of all-time.