Reports in Italy maintain that Chelsea proposed John Obi Mikel to several Serie A clubs but couldn’t find any takers.
John Obi Mikel’s future at Stamford Bridge remains in doubt after the Nigerian played a bit-part role in midfield under Jose Mourinho last term.
The Nigerian managed just 11 Premier League starts for the Blues as he found himself pushed to the margins by the arrival of Nemanja Matic in January.
Cesc Fabregas joined the West London outfit last month to only add further competition in the centre of the park, with a departure increasingly likely for the 27-year-old.
Mikel - a Chelsea player since 2006 - has been linked with moves to Spain, Turkey and Italy over the past six months, though concrete interest from sides has appeared hard to come by.
And after the London Evening Standard claimed last week that Chelsea are actively looking to offload the midfielder, it seems his current employers have taken matter into their own hands.
According to Tuttomercatoweb: ‘According to the findings of Tuttomercatoweb the Chelsea midfielder has been offered to several of our big clubs, but at the time they decided not to invest.'
‘The Blues meanwhile have lowered their financial demands, asking for no more than £4.7 million.’
If £4.7 million is the genuine figure Chelsea are willing to accept for Mikel, it represents a strikingly firm desire to get him off the club’s books given the relatively small sum.
The case may be that the Blues are keen to be freed of his £75,000 per week wages, with Mourinho seeing fit to divert these funds elsewhere with Mikel’s role at Stamford Bridge diminishing.
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It seems that Chelsea won’t be finding a buyer in Italy anytime soon, however, needing to search elsewhere for an interested party willing to take Mikel off their hands.
The Nigeria international gave a good account of himself at the World Cup in Brazil, and the Blues will foreseeably be hoping sides outside of Serie A took enough notice to come forward for Mikel’s services.
Will Chelsea need to drop Mikel's price-tag even further to sell?
Source: Chelseafc
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