John Obi Mikel eager for Chelsea stay

“I have been here so long due to the contracts I have signed and I like to be somewhere where I have developed friendships”, he said. 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.

The Nigerian has been offered numerous opportunities to leave Stamford Bridge this summer, including a highly lucrative offer from United Arab Emirates club Al Ain but he has decided he wants to remain with the Blues for the duration of his contract.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists that his team “don’t have fragilities”, and don’t need any other players ahead of the new Premier League season.

And now Mikel himself has confirmed his intentions. I’ve got two years here and I’m happy.

“I have two years left on my contract here and want to see them out“, Mikel is quoted to say by the London Evening Standard.

“Overall it was a pretty good warm-up game but not the result we hoped for, ” Mikel said after the game”.

He was said to have created an excellent chance for a second with a fine long pass which was latched on to by his compatriot Victor Moses who was mighty unlucky not to score with a dink that hit the post and not the net. The Portuguese is seemingly happy with the midfielders he has at his disposal.

“At this moment we have Matic, Ramires, Fabregas, Mikel, Loftus-Cheek and Oscar”.

As the club’s only real defensive midfielder apart from Nemanja Matić, Mikel will continue to be a useful member of the squad – an option for the Blues’ manager to use in order to kill games, or hang on to slender leads.

While he may not be everyone’s favourite cup of tea, there is no denying the fact that John Obi Mikel has been a key part in facilitating Chelsea’s rise into one of the biggest clubs in the world over the course of the last decade.