10 YEARS AFTER, MIKEL HASGROWN INTO CHELSEA’S WISEOLD AFRICAN

Goal.com

The Nigeria captain, who has logged a decade
with the Pensioners, has become a big brother
to the club's young African stars just like
Geremi and Drogba took him under their wings
After an early tussle that saw him claimed by
both Manchester United and Chelsea in his
teens, John Obi Mikel has grown into a
veritable member of the Blues as he clocked
ten years in London this month.
From those early days at Stamford Bridge
where his ‘casual attitude’ troubled team
staff, the Nigerian has become a wise old man
at 29 in a club that has seen big money
signings come and go since Russian billionaire
Roman Abramovich bought it over in 2003.
While Mikel is not the first Nigerian to play for
Chelsea, he has become the club’s iconic
Nigerian signing and ensuring its increased
popularity here since he moved over from Lyn
Oslo in 2006.
Despite his youthful exuberance that led to
club fines for turning up late at training and
the easy red cards that trailed him on the
pitch, Mikel has turned out a more measured
midfielder who has earned the trust of several
coaches leading him to become the club’s
longest serving player behind captain Jo

hn
Terry.
“I’ve always embraced the pressure at
Chelsea, the expectations of the fans, the
expectations of the board to win trophies and
make sure the club grows,” Mikel told Goal in
March at the Nigeria national team camp.
Even though his future at Stamford Bridge is
up for discussion with new manager Antonio
Conte after Euro 2016, Mikel hopes to
continue if he gets assurance of a starting
place under the Italian.
It is in the dressing room and off the pitch
where his influence will be missed when he
leaves. Just as he came under the watchful
eyes of Claude Makelele, Geremi Njitap, Didier
Drogba and Michael Essien, his African seniors
at Chelsea, Mikel has become a big brother to
a new crop of young Africans at the club.
Burkina Faso striker Bertrand Traore and
Ghanaian full back Baba Rahman both broke
into the first team last season with the
Nigerian saying he has helped them settle in.
“Baba Rahman, I speak to him a lot. He’s
young and I always look after him,” Mikel told
Goal.
“Traore, the same thing, I speak to quite a lot
of them because these guys are young and
they’ve come to this football team that
demands a lot.
“Chelsea demands a lot, a season without
trophies is a major disaster. Maybe they’re
not used to that, maybe they’re used to a
club where you play and you don’t win.
“At Chelsea you have to win everyday that is
the legacy, that’s how it is. Sometimes when
you lose a game and the pressure makes
them tend to go down, this is where you need
experienced players to pick them up and say
‘come on, we need to prepare for the next
game.’”
While Mikel is a rather private individual off
the pitch, he is hopeful of leaving a positive
legacy on the next African stars of Stamford
Bridge.
“Baba and Traore, I speak to them and
encourage them to keep doing what they’re
doing because they are very good players,” he
said.
Mikel has been included in the provisional
Nigeria Olympic squad and he would sort out
his future with Chelsea in a few days. There's
no doubting that he would be missed if he
leaves, 10 years after making his entry onto
the grand stage.