French giants Marseille are ready to
rescue Nigeria captain Mikel Obi from his
Chelsea nightmare, but the player’s
reported £3.4m-a-year salary is set to
scupper the move.
Mikel, who joined the Premier League
powerhouse in 2006, has been frozen out
of the team by the Blues’ Italian manager
Antonio Conte, who took over the reins at
the Stamford Bridge side in the summer.
French outlet Le 10 Sport reported on
Thursday that Marseille manager Rudi
Garcia was desperate to sign the 29-
year-old Super Eagles midfielder in
January to boost his midfield options.
But Le 10 Sport claims the “the salary
of Mikel Obi would be problematic”.
Acoording to talkSPORT, Chelsea are set
to offload Mikel, has won two Premier
League titles, the Champions League and
four FA Cups with the club, as he is
deemed surplus to requirements by Conte.
Mikel told The Sun last week that he was
ready to quit the club during the January
transfer window for first-team football
elsewhere.
He said, “Yes, maybe people will say the
new manager was upset I left and went to
the Olympics, that I didn’t have a pre-
season with the team.
“He (Conte) probably thinks I don’t care
about the team, things like that.
“But I don’t want to use those excuses. I
have to keep training hard and make sure I
change the manager’s mind. If not, then
we’ll see what happens in January.”
Le 10 Sport said Mikel, who guided
Nigeria to a 3-1 win over Algeria’s Desert
Foxes in their Russia 2018 World Cup
Group B qualifier in Uyo on Saturday,
could move to China where he would be
guaranteed an annual salary matching
what he currently earns at Chelsea.
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