Chelsea icon Mikel John Obi delivers furious on-air rant at how his club is being run by Todd Boehly

Chelsea legend Mikel John Obi has given his thoughts on how Todd Boehly has run the club, and he is not happy.

For the second successive season, Chelsea failed to qualify for the Champions League in 2023/24, amid worries that the club is being poorly run by owner Todd Boehly and his team.

On top of this fresh concerns have been raised about the club's squad size, which currently stands at a staggering 43 players having signed eight in the summer transfer window.

And now former Chelsea defensive midfielder and club legend Mikel John Obi has spoken out about the club's recent history and his fears regarding the ownership.

Speaking ahead of the season opener between Manchester United and Fulham, he told beIN SPORTS: "We have to start well Chelsea football club. We can't afford to have another bad season because the last three seasons have been really really bad.

"We don't want to be a mid table club. Chelsea football club is a club that always competes in winning the Premier League and being in the Champions League.

"That's where we've always been and we want to get back to that and, with the way the club is run right now with all of these players and the structure of the club, it's an absolute mess."

The former Nigerian international also claimed that he had spoken with a senior director at the club about Boehly's plan for the next decade, but said he did not think it was good enough.

Mikel John Obi played at Chelsea between 2006 and 2017. (Image: Getty)

Obi added: "I spoke to the director when I went back to London and he was telling me about the whole project of five to ten years, there is no five or ten years project, we want to win now and Enzo Maresca has his hands full with this football club."

Chelsea will get their 2024/25 season underway by welcoming champions Manchester City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

Maresca will be without key player Conor Gallagher for the match, after the young Englishman has trained along following a failed transfer to Atletico Madrid which fell apart at the last minute.