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John obi Mikel may end career at Chelsea

Nigeria midfielder John obi Mikel has admitted that he could end up leaving Chelsea after nearly a decade at the club.

After coming to the club as a teenager, Mikel has gone on to become a trusted name at Stamford Bridge even through several managers. However, his importance the club has been fading in recent years. The 28-year-old made only 26 appearances in all competitions last season. The statistic does not seem to improve in the 2015-16 campaign. In the first half of the season, he rarely featured for the first-team under José Mourinho.

His record has substantially improved once Guus Hiddink came to the club as an interim boss. Mikel is now once again the preferred choice in the centre of the park, but this situation could change once again when the club undergoes a managerial change in the summer. The 28-year-old says that he is not ready to be unused in the squad. Instead, he wants to play regularly and if he does not get assurances from Conte – or any other replacement – then he may think about leaving the club. The Nigerian joined the blues in the 2006-07 season for around £ 16 million. He has won every accolade with the West London outfit and was recently named as the captain of the Nigerian national team.

"I have one more season with Chelsea but I know when this season ends, we will definitely sit down and try to sort out whatever needs to be sorted out. If it means me leaving, fine. If it means me staying, then I have to play because one thing I don't want to do is to sit on the bench like I did before.It's not very nice, especially now when you have kids you just want to do what you can to play,” said Mikel.

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