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John Obi
Mikel made 374 appearances for Chelsea ©Justin Tallis (AFP)
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Chelsea midfielder John
Mikel Obi has bidden Chelsea fans goodbye after 10 years with the London side.
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| Schuller, John Obi Mikel, Salomon Kalou, Frank Lampard with the UEFA Champions League |
On
Thursday, Mikel signed a three-year, £140,000-a-week deal with Chinese
Super League side Tianjin TEDA, and the move was confirmed on Friday by Chelsea.
The
29-year-old is one of a select band of five foreign players in Chelsea’s history
to have reached the 300-game landmark, others being Petr Cech, Didier
Drogba, Branislav Ivanovic and Gianfranco Zola.
He
was a mainstay of the Chelsea squad that won the UEFA Champions League in
Munich in 2012, won the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice, and the
Premiew League twice.
In
total, Mikel played 372 times for Chelsea, scoring six goals.
Ahead
of his departure, the Super Eagles captain wrote a moving letter to Chelsea
fans:
THE
FULL LETTER
To my Chelsea family,
After ten years, 374 appearances and eleven
trophies, it is time to say goodbye.
Where do I begin? I joined Chelsea as a
19-year-old kid from the Norwegian Premier League, making my debut in the
Community Shield. I say goodbye as a champion of England, a champion of Europe,
and proud captain of my national team.
To play in the Premier League, the best
league in the world, is every professional player’s ambition. But to play for
Chelsea, to become part of the Chelsea family, to work with some of the best
managers and players in the world, has truly been an honour.
Every achievement I have been part of in my
time at Chelsea holds a special memory: my first goal, against Macclesfield in
2007 (even though there were only five more after that!). The nail-biting end
of the 2010 season – securing the title on the last day, scoring a record 103 goals
in the process, and winning the FA Cup a week later. Didier’s extra time winner
against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final. Beating two of our biggest
London rivals in League Cup finals. Winning the Europa League in Amsterdam,
with one of the last kicks of the game.
Then there was Munich. We were desperate to
make up for the disappointment of the 2008 final, but trailing with two minutes
to go, against Bayern, in their own stadium, it seemed that once more luck was
against us. But that night, with lions on our chest and the fans behind us, we
fought. Up popped Didier, the rest is history, and to date we’re still proudly
the only team in London with a European Cup.
None of this would have been possible
without the wider club’s support. To Mr Abramovich, the club’s staff, coaches,
physios, and to the managers I played under at Chelsea, I want to say thank
you.
But my biggest thanks must go to the Blues
fans. You brought me into the Chelsea family, you sung my name, and were there
with us every step of the way. Thanks to your support, on nights like in
Munich, you made the impossible possible.
As you will know, I haven’t featured as
much this season as I would have liked, and at 29 I still have many years in
the game ahead of me. With this in mind, I feel now is the time to seek a new
challenge. I’m delighted to be joining Tianjin TEDA in China, at a time that
the Chinese Super League is really taking off, and I look forward to helping
Tianjin TEDA continue to grow both on and off the pitch in the next few years.
To everyone at Chelsea – goodbye, and thank
you. You will always be part of who I am, and I wish you the best of luck. I
could not be happier to be saying goodbye with the club back where it belongs –
top of the league.
Keep the Blue flag flying high!
Mikel
John Obi
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