Overlooked Chelsea star, John Mikel Obi has become the latest ex-Premier League star to move to the Chinese Super League (CSL) after his transfer to Tianjin TEDA was confirmed on social media.
A picture was shared on Chinese website Webo of former Chelsea midfielder Mikel shaking hands with a Tianjin club official and holding the club’s shirt.
Mikel had been frozen out of Chelsea’s first team this season with N’Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic, Nathaniel Chalobah and Cesc Fabregas ahead in the pecking roder.
Mikel had a medical in the port city some 130 kilometres from Beijing on Thursday and the Asian Football Confederation confirmed the deal on Friday.
The 29-year-old, who spent more than a decade at Stamford Bridge, was given a free transfer by the London club and will earn 140,000 pounds ($173,432) a week in China, according to local media reports.
Serbia midfielder Nemanja Gudelj moved to Tianjin from Dutch club Ajax on Thursday and Mikel joins former English Premier League standouts Oscar and Carlos Tevez in moving to China over the last week
Mikel John Obi has become the latest Chelsea player to head to the Chinese Super League after announcing he is joining Tianjin TEDA.
“As you will know, I haven’t featured as much this season as I would have liked, and at 29 I still have many years in the game ahead of me.
“With this in mind, I feel now is the time to seek a new challenge. I’m delighted to be joining Tianjin TEDA FC in China, at a time that the Chinese Super League is really taking off, and I look forward to helping Tianjin TEDA FC continue to grow both on and off the pitch in the next few years.”
The Blues have now lost three players to the Asian competition in the past 12 months having lost Brazilians Ramires and Oscar to Jiangsu Suning and Shanghai SIPG respectively.
Open letter to Chelsea fans and Players
In an open letter shared on his Twitter account, Mikel shared memories of his greatest achievements in 10-trophy-laden years at Stamford Bridge.
‘To play in the Premier League, the best league in the world, is every professional player’s ambition. But to play for Chelsea, to become part of the Chelsea family, to work with some of the best managers and players in the world, has truly been an honour.
‘Every achievement I have been part of in my time at Chelsea holds a special memory: my first goal, against Macclesfield in 2007 (even though there were only five more after that!).
‘The nail-biting end of the 2010 season – securing the title on the last day, scoring a record 103 goals in the process, and winning the FA Cup a week later. Didier’s extra time winner against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final.