This has been a very interesting season for John Obi Mikel. Before the start of the season, there were rumours everywhere that he would be on his way away from Chelsea.
A few clubs even placed a bid for him, but, none of those deals finalized. The 26 years old midfielder eventually stayed in London.
However, he was supposed to be out of favour at the club. It was believed that the new boss Jose Mourinho was not happy with his development and thus, he was not going to give him the opportunity to play that often during the season. Exactly the same thing happened for the first couple of months. Mikel made substitute appearances once in a while, but, mostly, he was warming the bench.
Towards the end of the last year, things started falling in place a little bit for him though. Being impressed with his brief substitute outings, the manager decided to give him a go in the starting line up too and the Nigerian player lived up to it. He put up solid performances starting the games and looked like going up the pecking order slowly.
But, now, it seems that his fortunes are changing again, especially if you look at the football betting at William Hill online.
A new, talented midfielder in the form of Nemanja Matic has landed at Stamford Bridge and he is expected to be given the starting opportunities right from the word go. It means Mikel would fall down the pecking order and he would certainly not like that.
Mikel had burst onto the scene through his performances at the international arena, but, he has failed to perform that way at the club level.
He is certainly not as innovative as some of the other playmakers around, but, the thing which makes him impressive is his expertise in passing. He is a brilliant passer.
Mikel has so far played 197 Premier league matches for Chelsea.