Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has hit back at Nicolas Jackson after being told to shut up by the Blues striker.
Jackson came in for some criticism last season for his poor finishing despite scoring a respectable 17 goals for Chelsea amid chaotic scenes at Stamford Bridge.
The Senegal international has started this season in decent form with two goals in five matches for the Blues with Mikel giving him some constructive criticism on how to improve.
But after scoring in , Jackson blasted Mikel in a social media post, : Shut your mouth don’t talk s***, we are killing ourselves for Africa.
The legend stands by his criticism of the strike, though, with his finishing needing to be much better to become one of the best strikers in the world.
Mikel told beIN Sports: I’ve always said what I’ve said about Nicolas Jackson. He is a good player, there is not once I have ever said he is a bad player.
The only criticism is his finishing needs to be much better. In terms of giving us what we want, being in the right place at the right time, he does for the team.
When asked by Ruud Gullit whether Jackson would agree with his assessment, Mikel replied: I don’t think he agrees to that but I think everyone will understand what I am saying. It’s not coming from a bad place, it’s a really constructive criticism.
Gullit continued: As long as he knows that himself. Mikel added: But he doesn’t. That’s why when he scored he told me to shut up!
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Speaking of a failed move to Victor Osimhen from Napoli in the summer, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca: We want players, but we wanted a player that we decide.
It has to be on our conditions. If a player is not here, then it was not. We will see in January.
Maresca added: I had faith, and the club also, even before [in Jackson]. We trust Nicolas. When the transfer window was open, I said he was doing fantastic with us.
The only thing I know is he’s signing a new contract – I don’t know how many years.
I’m very happy. Nicolas is doing a fantastic job with us. He scored again. He had more chances but we’re happy with him.
Amid reports of a rift between Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, Maresca said: I said the other day in the press conference, it (results) is the only thing that we can control so we try to do our best.
The players, they try to do their best on the pitch for sure because (the) social network…they can read and see things, but I told them it is not something we can do.
