Name:
Mikel
Nationality: Nigerian
Date of
Birth: 22/04/1987
Height:
188 cm
Weight:
86.0 kg
Previous Clubs: Lyn Oslo
Position: Midfielder
Chelsea career
Following quickly on from the purchase of Salomon
Kalou in the summer of 2006, the arrival of John Mikel Obi confirmed Chelsea's
determination to add exciting young talent as well as established stars to a
squad that had just won back-to-back league titles.
Having smoothed out some rough edges both on and
off the pitch, manager Jose Mourinho increasingly used Mikel's talent in the
holding midfield role, especially when requiring a longer range of passing than
other options including the feted Claude Makelele. As a junior Mikel had played
more as an attacking midfielder.
Named Chelsea Young Player of the Year, he
survived an injury scare the week before the 2007 FA Cup Final to play the
whole game. Chelsea beat Manchester United in the first final at the new
Wembley.
The 2007/08 campaign saw Mikel continue to grow
in the 'Makelele' role, and by the end of it he had played more games than the
old master of the position.
There were hitches. An unfortunate sending off at
Old Trafford in Avram Grant's first game was followed by another red card in a
Carling Cup semi-final against Everton, his fourth since joining Chelsea.
He started the 2008 Carling Cup Final defeat by
Spurs shortly after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations but then spent a
spell out of the side before ending his second season with responsibility in
some important games, including a home win over Manchester United when he was
outstanding, although he remained on the bench for the Champions League Final
against the same opposition.
Top displays became more commonplace in the
2008/09 season when, with Michael Essien injured for much of the campaign,
Mikel became the permanent anchor man - his calm touch a major contribution to
the 2009 FA Cup win over Everton.
One item that has remained lacking from the
midfielder's game is goals, much like his former mentor Makelele.
Two in his first season, both FA Cup goals in the
January of 2007 against lower league opposition, have not been added to since,
though as he says, there are plenty of others in the midfield who can
contribute goals, allowing him to concentrate on stopping them.
Further injury to Essien in 2009/10 ensured that
for the second season running Mikel was the primary choice as deep-lying
midfielder. On his return from the Africa Cup of Nations in February he started
every game until his own knee and ankle problems in mid-April ruled him out of
the season's two-trophy climax, and the first African World Cup Finals. He did
however have his first league championship winners' medal.
Mikel's own on-pitch discipline problems are long
behind him. He was only booked four times in a Double-winning campaign spent in
a highly-competitive area of the pitch.
Carlo Ancelotti revealed he was a similar player
in a similar position in his youth but was able to use Essien more in 2010/11
and Mikel spent a period out the side, due to injury and when a 4-4-2 formation
was adopted for a period.
Mikel did however pass the 200-game milestone for
Chelsea during the season and started all but 10 league games.
The Nigerian began the 2011/12 campaign in Andre
Villas-Boas's new-look midfield, starting four of the opening five games, and
remained a regular before a thigh injury - sustained against Tottenham Hotspur
shortly before Christmas - meant he didn't feature for the Blues for almost two
months.
In the second half of the season, however, he
re-emerged as a regular in midfield, starting six of our nine games in a busy
March and impressing under Roberto Di Matteo with a more attacking outlook,
playing more forward passes and dominating from his deep position.
Arguably one of Mikel's finest games in a Chelsea
shirt was the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich.
Mikel began the current campaign in a similar
vein to the way he finished the previous one, and was rewarded with the offer
of a five-year contract, which he signed early in December, tying him to the
club until 2017.
Pre-Chelsea
Mikel became a squad addition the summer after
Chelsea had secured a second straight league title. An agreement had been
reached with Manchester United and Norwegian club Lyn Oslo that allowed Chelsea
to sign the then 19-year-old Nigerian midfielder for a combined £16 million.
A powerfully-built young man with exceptional
ball skills, his standing as one of the brightest young talents in the game had
been confirmed at the African Cup of Nations earlier that year, his senior
international debut having come in August 2005.
Previously Mikel had starred in the 2005 Fifa
Under 20 World Youth Championships where he was voted the tournament's second
best player as Nigeria made the final. The player trained with Chelsea for one
week in the winter of 2004 and José Mourinho had seen enough to wish to sign
him.
The then manager said: 'Everybody was in love,
not just me. The players were amazed at a young boy coming and training with us
with such quality.
'Later we saw him in the African Cup of Nations
playing like a giant. He was at an unbelievable level and we know what a player
he can be.'
International
Mikel made his debut for Nigeria in 2005, the
then 18 year-old coming on as a second half substitute in a 1-0 friendly win
over Libya.
His next appearance for the Nigerian side came
against Zimbabwe in the second group game of the 2006 African Nations Cup.
Having started the match as a substitute, he made an immediate impression upon
coming on, grabbing a goal and assist within 10 minutes. This earned him a
first competitive start against Senegal in the final group game, a match which
was won 2-1.
His fortunes took a turn for the worse over the
next two years, getting suspended for not turning up to an international but
then securing a place in Nigeria's 2008 African Nations Cup squad after bridges
were rebuilt.
Nigeria were a surprise package, eventually
losing to an Essien-less Ghana in the semi-finals. For Mikel there was an
unfamiliar role of playmaker just behind the Nigeria strikers and he was their
outstanding performer, scoring a goal and making an assist in one game. Injury
ruled him out of the 2010 World Cup.
After a lengthy absence, Mikel was recalled to
the Nigeria squad for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia in
October 2012.
At the tournament in South Africa at the start of
2013, he was one of the senior members of the team at just 25 years of age and
was commanding in a more advanced midfield role than his usual club position.
Nigeria won the Cup of Nations with Mikel ever-present, beating Burkina Faso in
the final.
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