Five players Chelsea must sell in January
By Ryan Willox
4. John Obi Mikel
A cursory look at the stats speaks to a storied career at Chelsea for
. Yet there has to be something of a sense of unfulfilled potential about his time at Stamford Bridge.
Mikel has never quite been ‘the man’. At almost every juncture in his Chelsea career there has been someone ahead of him for that holding midfield role.
Whether it be Michael Essien, Ramires or latterly Nemanja Matic, Mikel has never quite nailed on that starting spot to the extent you felt it was his to lose.
Conte’s summer signing of N’Golo Kante essentially signaled the death knell for Mikel’s Chelsea career but there is a lot of upside here.
At 29, he probably has at least three top flight seasons left in him, and certainly more given the fitness standards of today’s professionals.
There are a slew of clubs in the Premier League and across Europe who would kill to have a player of Mikel’s capabilities at the heart of their side.
And certainly there would be time for Mikel to grab a lucrative MLS or Chinese Super League contract to cap off his career later on.
That said, Chelsea need to cash in now before they lose Mikel for good in the summer.