According to owngoalnigeria.com, former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has revealed he left Chelsea for Chinese club, Tianjin Teda to help Nigeria qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Brazil. The 29 year-old who did not feature in a single match day squad under Antonio Conte this season, said the decision was borne out of the need to be a first-team regular in the national team and not necessarily because of financial gain.
He told owngoalNigeria, “I could easily have stayed in Chelsea for the remaining six months of my contract but it won’t be in the best interest of my nation, as they need me match fit when the World Cup 2018 qualifiers resume.”
” It wasn’t an easy decision to make but I seriously need matches to stay fit for Nigeria. Nigerians don’t deserve to miss out of the World Cup after back to back failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations”He said.