The Nigerian captain is rotten away at Chelsea and it is high time he faced that reality and fight for his career. Lack of playing time demoralize a player and also diminish their market value.
His performance at the Olympics and World Cup qualifying series which led to his inclusion as one of the contestants for the GLO-CAF Footballer of the Year Award doesn’t seem to interest Antonio Conte.
And it is glaring that he is not part of the Chelsea boss plans with N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic preferred ahead of him. Conte has failed to hide his discontentment against the 29-year-old who is the second oldest player at the club presently.
Mikel Obi has endured difficult periods at the club before but since arriving Stamford Bridge in 2006, this appears to be his worst experience, as he rightly said.
He is yet to kick a ball for the Blues since his return from the Olympic Games in Brazil where he won the bronze medal with the Nigeria U23 and newly appointed Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has pointed it out that club is punishing the midfielder for his participation at the Olympics.
Another of teammate of his going through the same experience is Cesc Fabregas but the Spaniard has decided to fight for his place in the team and he can only be wished good luck.
Mikel is just 29 and still in his prime, he will definitely get a good offer if he decides to call it quit at the London club. He should move to where his services are needed and will be appreciated. And it will do him a lot of good if he moves in January. Waiting till end of the season means he would have sat on the bench for almost a year.
He has won almost everything, if not all, that needs to be won at the club level. No need to stay back and fight for a place that may never be available.