Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has listed Super Eagles’s midfielder John Obi Mikel among the leaders in his squad, owing to the number of years he has spent at the Stamford Bridge.
John Terry is the captain and Branislav Ivanovic is the Vice-Captain but after the departure of Petr Cech and Didier Drogba, there is the need for other leaders in the team. When the Portuguese gaffer was asked of other leaders in his star-studded team, he replied:
“In this moment the two captains, if I can say captain, captain, captain, the same way last year we had Drogba, Petr and John, this season I would say this year we have John and Ivanovic.
Ivanovic is more than ready to be a big captain too; more than ready: lots of experience, lots of years at Chelsea, his personality, his character, the respect that he has from the other guys. In John and Ivanovic we have two fantastic captains. And after that we have people that come behind. (Gary) Cahill, lots of years at Chelsea, also vice-captain in the England national team. Good personality, good example.
(John Obi) Mikel is, after John, the guy with most years of Chelsea. I think (Cesc) Fabregas has personality for a captain too. Eden is coming with big status now and was voted one of the top 10 players in Europe last year. In my opinion he should be in the top three not in the top 10. Let’s see what is going to happen but we have these people. But let’s say John and Branislav are our captains and the others are ready to come,” he told Dailymail.co.uk.
Mikel joined Chelsea in 2006. Part of his profile on the official Chelsea website reads:
“As a junior Mikel had played as an attacking midfielder, but upon moving to west London Jose Mourinho quickly outlined his desire to play the Nigerian in the holding midfield role, a position he has operated in ever since. A tall, strong player, Mikel is as tactically astute as they come, moving the ball quickly on to his more attacking-minded team-mates, but he is also not afraid to join in further up the field when the timing is right.
Mikel has won a host of honours during his time at the club, but perhaps his finest moment in a Chelsea shirt was the 2012 Champions League final, when he produced an outstanding midfield display as we overcame Bayern Munich in Germany.
Often saving his best performances for the big occasion – the 2012 Champions League final being a case in point – Mikel has won every major honour at club level with the Blues”.
Mikel recently declared that he is willing to stay with the English Champions ending speculations of his departure.
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