Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has dismissed reports he could be leaving the Premier League champions this summer and says he wants to see out the remaining two years of his contract.
Mikel, 28, has been at Chelsea since 2006 and had been a target of Turkish giants Fenerbahce and United Arab Emirates outfit Al Ain this summer.
Chelsea had been looking to fetch in excess of £10m for the Nigerian’s services, scaring off the interest of Fenerbahce, but the defensive midfielder has since been told he has a future at the club.
“I have two years left on my contract here and want to see them out. I am happy here and we will see what happens. I do not want to stay, the manager wants me to stay so I don’t have any issues.
“The manager has told me he wants to stay. He said that and I’m pretty happy to stay.
“This is going to be my tenth season at the club, next year it will be my 11th. I have been here so long due to the contracts I have signed and I like to be somewhere where I have developed friendships.
“This is like my family now. Every time I come to work it’s like coming in to see my family.
“I know the whole place, the staff, it is going to be a hard place to leave when my contract runs out and then we will see what happens.”
Mikel has largely been an understudy to a glittering array of midfielders at Chelsea down the years and hasn’t managed to make more than 20 Premier League starts since the 2010/11 campaign.
For more stats on John Obi Mikel, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
