John Obi Mikel has questioned Chelsea’s decision not to sign one player who is currently at Manchester City.
Chelsea were extremely busy during the summer, bringing in the likes of Joao Pedro, Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap.
It is thought that Chelsea also considered signing Jeremy Doku from their Premier League rivals City.
Would Endrick be a good signing for Chelsea?
However, it is another City player Mikel wanted to see at Stamford Bridge before his move to the Etihad.
Former Chelsea player John Obi Mikel at Web Summit Qatar 2024
Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile for Web Summit Qatar via Getty Images
John Obi Mikel wanted Chelsea to sign Gianluigi Donnarumma
Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is performing well at the minute, but it appears that Mikel would still prefer to have Gianluigi Donnarumma between the sticks.
Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast, the former midfielder said: “Donnarumma for me was, you know, he was out there. He was available in the market. Why we didn’t get him? I have absolutely no idea.
“I’ve said it so many times, you know, I don’t care and I’ll still say it. I just think that for me, Sanchez, I feel he’s not the goalkeeper that will take us to the next level.”
The Blues were actually linked with Donnarumma before his switch from Paris Saint-Germain to City.
According to journalist Dean Jones, though, Chelsea are waiting for Mike Maignan to become a free agent, hence their decision not to move for Donnarumma.
Maignan’s contract at AC Milan expires next year, so there is a real possibility of the Blues bringing him in for nothing ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Manchester City team photo before Borussia Dortmund tie
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
How Gianluigi Donnarumma’s and Robert Sanchez’s stats compare this season
Donnarumma has not been in the Premier League for long, but he already looks at home. The 26-year-old has made some fantastic saves and his overall stats are quite impressive.
Again, Sanchez has not done badly lately, keeping consecutive clean sheets in wins against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. However, he is being outperformed by his City counterpart.
For example, Donnarumma currently has a higher save percentage than Sanchez. He also has one fewer clean sheet despite playing fewer games, giving him a higher clean sheet percentage.
Goalkeeper Games Goals conceded Goals conceded per 90 Saves Save percentage Clean sheets Clean sheet percentage
Gianluigi Donnarumma 8 4 0.50 14 77.8% 4 50%
Robert Sanchez 11 9 0.90 17 65.4% 5 45.5%
Via FBref
The eye test will tell you anyway that Donnarumma is a superior goalkeeper to Sanchez. The Spaniard does put in some good performances for Chelsea, but it is not hard to see why Mikel wanted the Club World Cup winners to sign Donnarumma in the summer.