The agent of Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has revealed that there is a 50/50 chance of his client remaining at Stamford Bridge beyond this season.
Mikel has just six months remaining on his current contract with the Blues, and with no contract talks having yet taken place, doubts continue to emerge over his future at the club.
Having failed to feature under Antonio Conte at all so far this season, it certainly doesn’t look good for the Nigeria international and so the expectation was that he would leave.
However, his agent, John Shittu, has suggested that it is still up in the air and rates his chances of staying at Chelsea at 50/50 for the time being.
“Obi Mikel and Antonio have been speaking,” Shittu told Goal. “The manager, club and player have been talking. So I am not in a position to tell about what they have been speaking about, in the next few weeks things should be clearer.
“There are a few clubs in Europe and Asia, they are numerous and are interested in him because he is a quality player, aged only 29, and we just have to speak, so we will see. A lot of interest is there.
“There is no decision made yet and it is still 50/50 whether he will sign or leave. A lot can happen in the next months, never say never in football.”
Shittu went on to reiterate that they have several meetings lined up with clubs and so the pressure is certainly on Chelsea to offer Mikel a new deal sooner rather than later if they do indeed harbour hopes of keeping him at the club beyond a decade having joined them in 2006.
However, with the likes of N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic ahead of him in the pecking order along with youngsters such as Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek arguably surpassing him too, it’s difficult to see how Mikel will get regular first-team football at Chelsea moving forward.
In turn, it seems the most sensible decision for both parties would be to move in different directions, but time will tell if that’s the path that they choose.