Mikel John Obi

[Special Juan 27,430]

Sounds like Boro want him, this would be the most Tony Pulis signing of all time.

[ja1 1,166]

Does anyone think a younger Mikel could have worked as a Jorginho back up? He would defo work in terms of he’s happy to be a squad player/not rotate and just play cup/Europa games unless Jorgi is injured. Not quite sure/or even remember if he had Jorgi’s ability to always look for the ball and awareness of those around him when building up play from our defensive third under press. He of course does have his ability of ball retention over 5-15 yards. 

[Special Juan 27,430]

 

[Vesper 28,880]

Pulis: 'I snuck' to Mikel's house to help seal his move to Middlesbrough

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/17385810.pulis-i-snuck-to-mikels-house-to-help-seal-his-move-to-middlesbrough/

[mccg 1,528]

John Obi Mikel has shared insight into Chelsea's dressing room when the team were losing

https://www.givemesport.com/1451704-john-obi-mikel-has-shared-insight-into-chelseas-dressing-room-when-the-team-were-losing?autoplay=on

[Unionjack 7,531]

John Obi Mikel says that any player under 30 who chooses to move China 'will regret it'

https://www.givemesport.com/1460014-john-obi-mikel-says-that-any-player-under-30-who-chooses-to-move-china-will-regret-it?utm_source=self&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=barbie

[Vesper 28,880]

22 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

John Obi Mikel says that any player under 30 who chooses to move China 'will regret it'

https://www.givemesport.com/1460014-john-obi-mikel-says-that-any-player-under-30-who-chooses-to-move-china-will-regret-it?utm_source=self&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=barbie

IF we get a summer window on appeal, we need to rescue

36 goals, 16 assists between the Super Lig, the Champions League and the Chinese League last year

[Unionjack 7,531]

1 minute ago, Vesper said:

IF we get a summer window on appeal, we need to rescue

I think me n you need to get our arses over there Mrs!!

It sounds like a major culture shock to these guys used to living £1m pound lifestyles.l

[Vesper 28,880]

2 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

I think me n you need to get our arses over there Mrs!!

It sounds like a major culture shock to these guys used to living £1m pound lifestyles.l

Obi went to the north in Tianjin

Talisca is down in Guangzhou (Canton) right next to Hong Kong, which I much prefer

Guangzhou Evergrande is like the Bayern/PSG/Juve of China

[Special Juan 27,430]

Met him this afternoon, went to watch Boro v Hull, me and my lad took our CFC shirts. 

As he was warming up I had my Chelsea training jacket on, I shouted over to him he took a look over and beat his chest with his fist.

After the game my little lad shouted him and he came straight over after seeing the shirts. He spent a good half hour chatting about Munich and all things Chelsea.

What a day.

[ja1 1,166]

2 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Met him this afternoon, went to watch Boro v Hull, me and my lad took our CFC shirts. 

As he was warming up I had my Chelsea training jacket on, I shouted over to him he took a look over and beat his chest with his fist.

After the game my little lad shouted him and he came straight over after seeing the shirts. He spent a good half hour chatting about Munich and all things Chelsea.

What a day.

Sounds great, lucky you. Forgive me for being nosy but any particularly interesting anecdotes or points from him? 

[Special Juan 27,430]

Just my lad with Obi Mikel

[DDA 9,690]

3 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Just my lad with Obi Mikel

Quality mate. 

[Special Juan 27,430]

Just now, DDA said:

Quality mate. 

Thanks mate

[Vesper 28,880]

Mikel: I’m never going back to Trabzonspor – it’s not right to play football now

https://theathletic.com/1686642/2020/03/19/mikel-trabzonspor-chelsea-coronavirus/

Mikel John Obi insists he will reject any approach to play for Trabzonspor again having walked away from the Turkish Super League side after complaining about their handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking exclusively to The Athletic, the former Chelsea midfielder has revealed the extraordinary events of the last few days which have seen him cancel his contract and return to London to be with his family.

While most professional sport around the world has been postponed in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Turkish Super League was still going on until authorities suspended it late this afternoon. Trabzonspor have not won the championship since 1984 but lead the division — albeit only ahead of Istanbul Basaksehir on goal difference — after 26 games.

Mikel wrote a post on Instagram last Friday insisting the season in Turkey “should be cancelled”, which is understood to have angered the Trabzonspor board. The player says he was ordered to a meeting with club president Ahmet Agaoglu, at which he claims he was instructed to take the post down. Mikel refused to delete the message.

The Nigeria international explains: “They were really upset about the whole thing. I was told to meet with the president in his office one-on-one. He asked me to take it down (the post). I told him I wasn’t going to do that. It’s my opinion. This is how I feel. We live in a free world. I have freedom of speech. I can express my opinion.

“I wanted to win the league too but at this point in time we have to think about what is more important: to save peoples’ lives.

“I want to help in any way that I can to defeat this virus. For us to be out there playing; I don’t think we are helping the global situation. I don’t feel it is right for us to play football.

“UEFA have postponed football. How come they are still playing in Turkey? It’s not right at all. But Trabzonspor were not having it — for me, they don’t care.

“I told them I wanted to go home. They said, ‘If you go home, you’re not coming back.’ I said, ‘OK, I’m going home.'”

Mikel, 32, was an unused substitute in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with nearest challengers Istanbul Basaksehir and then chose to walk away from his contract, worth around £35,000 a week, which still had more than a year left to run. The former Chelsea midfielder says he had already been assured an option for another 12 months was going to be triggered, which would have taken him up to 2022.

On Wednesday, he flew back from Turkey to be reunited with his partner and young twin girls, who had stayed in the family home near Chelsea’s training ground in Surrey while Mikel played in the Turkish Super League.

He adds: “I explained to the club that I needed to see and be with my kids. They were calling me every single morning, crying on the phone, wondering why their friends were not coming over for playdates, why they can’t touch anyone on the street. I didn’t feel happy every morning lying to my kids, making up stories to explain why in order to try not to make them panic (about COVID-19).

“I knew if I came home, they’d be relaxed because they’d then know Daddy was home. I told the club, ‘OK, if that’s what you’re saying, I’m ready to give up my contract. To be with my family, to help the world to do the right thing — everybody needs to stay at home at this point in time.’

“I have taken a financial hit by taking this stance. It is worth every single penny, I’m telling you. To see my kids happy and fine, to know we will survive this together; the only way we can beat this is by being at home with your family, taking care of your family, your neighbour.

“When I arrived back at London Heathrow, it was amazing. My girlfriend has been panicking all week over the possibility of the UK borders being shut and me not being able to come back home, that I’d be stuck in Turkey. Just imagine if this goes on for months. I wouldn’t be able to see my kids, to help my family. God forbid anything happened to them and I wasn’t there. I wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice.

“Before we hugged, I had to come home and shower, change my clothes and everything. In Turkey, I was not tested or anything like that. I had to make sure I did the right things before touching them.”

Mikel, who won eight major trophies at Chelsea from 2006-17, joined Trabzonspor — on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, 650 miles east of Istanbul —as a free agent last summer, having spent the previous two years at Tianjin Teda in China and Championship Middlesbrough respectively.

He had become a key player in the Turkish side’s title challenge but had been increasingly living as a recluse as the coronavirus crisis intensified. Turkey had six reported cases at the time of Mikel’s post but that figure had jumped to 47 by Thursday.

He says: “I thought, ‘The more this goes on, I won’t be safe out there.’ I just kept myself locked up. I went to training and then I would go back to my flat. That is basically all I did until I came home.

“I was doing so well, playing every week. The team was winning — top of the league. We were playing well. I was enjoying my football out there. We had a chance to win the league but I gave that all up to do the right thing.”

Mikel is adamant he would refuse to rejoin Trabzonspor if the club made a bid to re-sign him.

“Go back to Trabzonspor? No chance,” he says. “Not with the way they have dealt with this situation.  

“We have to look at ourselves sometimes in life and ask what is more important? Who do I want to be friends with? When I’m in trouble, who is going to look after me? And, the way they have dealt with this, I don’t see myself going back to Trabzonspor again.

“I hope (there will be offers from elsewhere). I hope I will be back out on the pitch once everything is settled and everyone is back at work, everything is back to normal. I want to be out there as soon as possible. But we have to defeat this virus first.

“I am looking forward to my next chapter. I don’t know where it’s going to be. I want to be closer to home, somewhere in England maybe. But we will see what happens. The best option is where I will go.

“In the meantime, my girls will help keep me fit! I will be in the gym too and, if I can, I will do some running outside.”

A Trabzonspor spokesperson said: “Mikel’s claim about our club stated in the news you have made does not reflect the truth. Trabzonspor Club has taken all the necessary precautions against Covid-19 in a very short time.

“In accordance with the information given by the Ministry of Health, the health committee of our club has informed our footballers. The facilities, pitches and the stadium have been disinfected. Restrictions of the access of the guests in the club training ground, including even the guests of the players themselves, have been placed.

“Our staff at the facilities has started to work from home in accordance with the social distancing rule.

“Despite of all the precautions and common sense calls, Mikel wanted to go to United Kingdom, where his family is located. He was also informed that he would not be able to come back due to the restrictions in the international flights.

“Oyour footballer, whom we expected to calm and prudent just like all the footballers and football family members, who have been waiting for the league to be postponed in Turkey, decided to leave himself. His manager himself is a witness of this situation. As a result, we had to part ways with him by common consent.

“We wish him success in his career.”

Mikel responded by telling The Athletic that he disputed the club’s version of events and said the has no manager (agent) and that he attended the meeting with the club president alone.

[Vesper 28,880]

Stoke

 

[killer1257 3,282]

I will always remember his masterclass performance in CL final. He was a beast in that final.

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[Special Juan 27,430]

Confirmed will sign for Stoke tomorrow.....The removal men will be fucking sick of him, he's had more clubs than Tiger Woods.