Chelsea FC midfielder John Obi Mikel has been subject to much transfer speculation so far this summer. Having seen relatively little playing time last season, there is an apparent intent on behalf of both the player and the club to part ways. Or at least there was. Now, Mikel has stated that he wants to remain at Stamford Bridge.
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“I want to stay and the manager wants me to stay. I’ve got two years here and I’m happy,” said Mikel to the club website.
“It’s like my family here and every day I come to work it is like coming in to see my family. I know all the players and all the staff so it’s going to be a hard place to leave when my contract runs out but let’s see what happens. I want to see out my two years.”
Mikel is heading into his tenth season with the West London club, having joined under acrimonious circumstances in the summer of 2006. In case you don’t remember, he was at the centre of a very odd situation where all three of Chelsea, Manchester United and Lyn Oslo claimed ownership of him. Eventually the matter was resolved and compensation was paid, with the Nigerian becoming a Blues player.
During his time at Chelsea, Mikel has made at least 35 competitive appearances in each campaign prior to the 2014/15 season. His career in England has coincided with Chelsea’s success, meaning that he has two Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, two League Cups, one Europa League and a Champions League to his name.
Despite all this, he has frequently divided opinion amongst Blues fans. Many claim that he is a “passenger” and “useless”, but others simply point to his record which should really speak for itself. Well-known football writer Jake Cohen said exactly that when defending Mikel on Twitter:
On Mikel, only turned 28 in April + has 11 trophies to his name. There's maybe 5 PL players who have won more at his age. Winner. #cfc
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) July 12, 2015
For those saying Mikel is "passenger" or "meaningless," he's got 300+ games + played EVERY SINGLE MINUTE vs Benfica, Barca, Bayern in CL run
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) July 12, 2015
He has a point.
Whatever your opinion on Mikel, it does seem like he will be lining up in a Blue shirt/Chelsea matching tracksuits next season. There were rumours that a deal had been struck with Arab club Al Ain, and that Turkish outfit Fenerbahce were interested, but none of these have materialised so far.
It will be interesting to see how this develops in the next few weeks or so. With Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic holding the midfield starting roles, it might be best for Jose Mourinho to keep Mikel at Stamford Bridge. Think about it this way: which midfielder can you bring in that will be better than Mikel but happy to sit on the bench for the most part? I can’t think of many.
For Mikel, though, he just likes being in a family.
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