The Nigerian has told his podcast audience that the identity that made the club successful under Roman Abramovich has been deliberately discarded by American group BlueCo.
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast in the wake of Monday's 3-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest — Chelsea's sixth successive league loss and their fourth without scoring — the Nigerian, who spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge, directed his frustration at what he described as a conscious decision by the new owners to exclude those who built the club's winning culture.
"BlueCo don't want anybody who represented the club during the Roman Abramovich era who built the club to what it is today. They don't want those people involved. That's the wrong thing to do."
He was particularly forceful in his call for former captain John Terry to be given a more prominent role. Terry holds a part-time consultancy position in the academy but was not contacted about joining caretaker boss Calum McFarlane's first-team staff. Terry himself confirmed in February that he had heard nothing.
"You need a voice — someone like John Terry," Mikel said. "He needs to be part of that football club in any capacity. He has to be. Somebody who has been there, done it, won trophies, can sit young players down and tell them who we are. Nobody is doing that."
Mikel acknowledged the club is aware of and unhappy with his public criticism — and said he has no intention of stopping.
"The club can get angry with me as much as they want — which I know they do. But I am only saying it from a good place because I care for the football club. The DNA of the football club is gone. It's not the same Chelsea that I know."
Chelsea sit ninth in the Premier League, ten points behind the top four with four matches remaining. They spent over a billion pounds in transfer fees during the BlueCo era and have cycled through five permanent managers in under four years.