Tag: Mikel

Walter Mazzarri, coach of Watford, has ruled out a move for Nigeria international John Obi Mikel in the January transfer window.

Ighalo had urged the Hornets to make a move for Mikel after he fell out of favour with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.

Speaking to reporters ahead of today’s meeting with Everton in the Premier League, Mazzarri made it crystal clear that he wasn’t interested in signing Mikel.

Mikel, 29, has been linked with possible moves to Marseille, Manchester United, Valencia and the Chinese Super League in January.

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte has hinted that John Obi Mikel will remain at Stamford Bridge at the end of the January transfer window and the Nigeria national-teamer is unlikely to be offered a new contract at the end of this season.

Speculation had been rife that the defensive midfielder would depart the Blues next month with clubs in France, Spain, England and China interested in snapping him up.

“The situation with Obi Mikel is simple: he’s in the squad. He stays with us. We know that, at the end of the season, probably his contract will expire, ” Conte told reporters at Friday’s press conference.

“But I don’t know what happens now. He’s a player who is part of this squad, and every single game I take my decision about him.”

The Super Eagles captain has not played competitively for Chelsea this term despite being fit.

Owngoalnigeria.com understands that over 25 teams have submitted contract proposal to out-of-favour Chelsea star John Mikel Obi who has been told he is free to leave Stamford Bridge in January.

Mikel has found games hard to come by under new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, in what is his eleventh season at the club, no thanks to his participation at the Rio 2016 Olympics with Nigeria.

However, the 29-year-old is not short of offers as according to his close friend and associates, he has been bombarded with over 25 contract proposals from teams all round the world.

“Mikel has around 25 offers already, it’s crazy but there’s a new offer everyday, teams from the Middle East, Dubai and Qatar precisely, as well as MLS and around five teams in Europe,” he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

He further said Mikel would most likely end up in China with Shanghai Shehua where former Super Eagles forward Obafemi Martins currently plays.

“Shanghai Shenhua almost signed him last season, they are back in for him and John Terry with manager Gustavo Poyet keen on pushing a deal through.

“Secondly, their offer is better financially than that of Shanghai SIPG and the club (Jiangsu Suning) of Mikel’s former teammate Ramirez. For now he could end up there.”

Mikel, who has been frozen out at  Premier League club Chelsea, crowned a commanding display against Algeria with a goal to keep the Super Eagles on course to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“He played like a true leader. He commanded the respect of the team, marshalling and putting so much energy into the effort of the team,” praised Rohr, who has stood by his captain in his trying times at his London club this season.”

The sterling leadership qualities of the 29-year-old midfielder were equally praised by NFF vice-president Seyi Akinwunmi.

“Mikel is not just a player, he is the leader and it is his leadership that has helped the younger players in the team like (Oghenekaro) Etebo,” he said.

Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has revealed that he fleetingly thought he was offside just before he scored Nigeria’s second goal in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Algeria in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

“I had just one thing at the back of my mind (when I received the pass from Oghenekaro Etebo) and that was to put the ball in the back of the net. I controlled the ball, looked up to see if I was offside but when I saw that the assistant referee did not raise his flag, I decided to carry on.

“I looked at the (Algerian) goalkeeper and he was standing at the left side (of the goal) with the other side wide open so I decided to put the ball there. It wasn’t a difficult situation but at the same time, scoring a goal is never easy,” a chuckling Mikel told a packed press conference in Uyo on Saturday.

It is a situation that has pleased Mikel who however insists that everyone involved with the team must stay focused on the task at hand.

“I’m very happy with this victory and also happy that we are playing well. Like the coach (Gernot Rohr) said, we are responding very well to what he wants us to do. (We are playing) aggressive and offensive football.

“We are keeping the ball well because we have a lot of young players who really want to play. The movement in the team is also very important. Players like Alex (Iwobi), Kelechi (Iheanacho) and Victor (Moses) all (interchanged positions) very well.

“We have to move around so it is very difficult for other teams to pick us out. We have to continue like this and if we do, then I think we have a very good chance of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia,” he said.

Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi has saidmuch has changed with the Nigeria national team since Gernot Rohr replaced Sunday Oliseh as the head of coaching duties.

“We have a very good and young team. The manager (Gernot Rohr) has come in and he has made a lot of changes to the team. He has brought in a lot of new players and I think it is quite clear to see from the way we play these days.

“There’s a lot more energy to our game and players like Kelechi (Iheanacho), (Alex) Iwobi and the others are always calling for the ball because we generally want to express ourselves a lot more. That is something we have improved on lately,” Mikel said at a press conference in Uyo on Saturday.

Mikel also revealed that Rohr consistently insists that the players win back possession as soon as possible whenever the team loses the ball. He said the tactic will remain unchanged when they face the dangerous Algerians on Saturday.

“One thing the manager always likes us to do is to win back possession quickly whenever we lose the ball. What this translates into is that we always have possession of the ball.

“We have done that very well in the last two games (versus Tanzania and Zambia) we have played and hopefully, against Algeria on Saturday, we will carry it over from the Zambia game and play a good game,” he said.

Super Eagles’ Captain Mikel Obi has charged his mates to do what they know  how to do best which is to score goals against Algeria on Saturday at the Nest of Champions in Uyo to make Nigeria’s chances for 2018 World Cup qualification very bright.

Speaking with SportingLife during the Eagles’ first morning training session yesterday, he boasted that the major strength of the Nigerian team is the attack and they must utilise this to overwhelm the Algerians on Saturday.

“I think it’s going to be a very tactical game on Saturday. We want to win but a draw is not a bad result,” he said.

“We have to play to our strength and they will have to play to their own strength too. Team spirit is good. We all came out here this morning to do light work,” he said.

“We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing right. We look solid like a team. Defensively, we look good; going forward, we look good. We create chances, we score goals. So, we have to keep doing exactly what we are doing.

“We need to be focused in the camp and be disciplined as well. We have to make sure that we work very hard.

“I think we are a very good side, we have a young team with a few experienced players, the team is very energetic and matching the Algerian counter attacks won’t be a problem for us.”

Nigeria skipper John Obi Mikel is in line to make his 250th Premier League appearance for Chelsea when they face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.

It took the defensive midfielder longer than expected to be in a position to reach that target because he was away with the Nigerian Olympic National Team when the season started and was given a break at the end of the competition.

As a result of his absence, the 29-year-old Mikel was unavailable for selection against West Ham, Watford and Burnley.

There had been fears that he would have to sit out this weekend’s tie with Swansea City following his substitution against Tanzania last Saturday in an African Cup of Nations qualifier but he resumed training upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge.

It remains to be seen if the Blues coach Antonio Conte will give him a run out against The Swans.

Mikel has netted once in his 249 Premier League games, notched 11 assists, has been yellow carded 40 times, dismissed once and logged 16,245 minutes.