Mikel Pledges Future To Chelsea

Chelsea midfielder and Nigerian international who has been thrashed repeatedly in the media in his country and in England recently due to his mediocre turnout every time he takes the pitch has decided to add to his 339 official appearances for Chelsea since he joined the English Premiership side in 2006. The midfielder just recently confirmed that he will be staying at the Stamford Bridge till the expiration of his contract in 2017.

The 28-year-old was seriously linked with a number of clubs before the world club but after his return from the world cup where the whole world witnessed his lackluster performance and lack of anything in contribution to the squad performance, interest in the player reduced drastically and he was avoided like a plague and did not even get support at his side in the English Premiership.

The Nigerian international was also linked with Turkish club Fenerbahçe as well as Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates but neither side have made a bid for the player and it is all been considered rumors at the moment.

Mikel recently said that the club and manager Jose Mourinho want him to stay at the club till his contract expires in 2017 and that is exactly what he will be doing. He said, “I have two years left on my contract here and want to see them out. I am happy here and we will see what happens. I do want to stay, the manager wants me to stay so I don’t have any issues.” “The manager has told me he wants me to stay. He said that and I’m pretty happy to stay. This is going to be my tenth season at the club, next year it will be my 11th. I have been here so long due to the contracts I have signed and I like to be somewhere where I have developed friendships”

The 28-year-old midfielder who has made 339 appearances for Chelsea which is more than that of any other player in the present Chelsea squad except Captain John Terry also claimed that he feels completely at home at Stamford Bridge and is not keen on swapping his comfort for a new environment he does not even know yet and will have to adapt to. He said, “This is like my family now. Every time I come to work it’s like coming into see my family.”

“I know the whole place, the staff, it is going to be a hard place to leave when my contract runs out and then we will see what happens.”

Chelsea fans may not really care about the player’s sentiments about the club and most fans will rather prefer the player leaves so that the squad will get a new midfielder but he will not be leaving apparently until 2017.

This move by Mikel however is a terrible one and he should sack his agent for not pointing him in the right direction which as at this moment is best away from Chelsea where he will just be a bench warmer who never gets to make any meaningful impact and might become sidelined even from his country squad in the nearest future if he does not remedy this soon. He should have moved to a club which may be lesser but give him the chance to play and prove himself from turn to turn. Time will tell.