'It's illegal!' - Jon Obi Mikel sensationally claims Arsenal are 'trying to cheat their way' to Premier League title

Arsenal v Chelsea - Premier League

Jon Obi Mikel has launched a scathing attack on Arsenal, claiming the Premier League leaders are "trying to cheat their way" to a first title in decades. The Nigerian, who won two league crowns at Chelsea, branded the Gunners' reliance on physical set-pieces as "illegal" and "ugly" to watch, despite Mikel Arteta's side currently sitting top of the table.

'You've spent almost a billion!'

Mikel didn't hold back during his explosive rant on talkSPORT, questioning the tactical direction of the north London giants given their massive transfer spend. "When I watch Arsenal play right now, they depend solely, solely on corner kicks. You have spent almost a billion, Mikel Arteta... And you're telling me the only way you can win games is through corner kicks? It's ridiculous," he stated.

Brighton & Hove Albion v Arsenal - Premier League

Arteta accused of stifling creative stars

Mikel believes the creative talent in the squad is being stifled as Arteta focuses on marginal gains to get over the line. Arsenal have scored a league-high 21 goals from set-pieces this season and only 35 of their 100 goals in all competitions have come from open play. "The only reason why the Arsenal fans are not complaining... is because they're top of the league," Mikel argued. "The creativity that they have, the potentials that they have, it's all gone out of the window. We don't see them anymore."

'Illegal' set-piece claims

Mikel targeted Arsenal’s management of opponents during corners, describing them as "desperate" to end their 22-year title drought. "What they do during set-pieces, for me, it's illegal. First of all, they're impeding the goalkeeper and now they start holding players," Mikel continued. "When you hold a play, when you impede a player from jumping, I watched the game against Chelsea when they played against us. Declan Rice was grabbing, I don't know who's, the left back, what's his name [Jorrel Hato]? 

"He was holding him so he couldn't jump. And for me, yeah, and for me, how can the referee not see that? Even if the ball goes in, how can the VAR not see that? And for me, the PGMOL, well, they need to come out and they need to straight away, they need to stop this because if they don't stop this, the whole bunch of teams are gonna start doing it.

"And for me, that's illegal. So that is what I mean, that Arsenal are trying to cheat their way to winning the Premier League. They're trying to cheat their way to winning the Premier League. That's a team that is desperate of winning the Premier League, because they know that they haven't won the Premier League for the last 22 years, 23 years. And now they're so desperate, they want to cheat their way through it."

Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Arsenal FC - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg

A question of championship legitimacy

Mikel concluded by refusing to acknowledge a potential Arsenal title victory. "I wouldn't recognize them as winners. Because for me, it's illegal the way they're winning games. It's illegal. Unless the Premier League right now, from this weekend, stamp that out. We don't want to see that in the game," he added. When asked if he would follow such tactical instructions, he was blunt: "No, you can't, because he [Arteta] spent a billion."