Tianjin Teda of China midfielder, John Mikel Obi is facing a bleak time in the twilight of his once-vibrant career, as footballlive.ng gathered that the Super Eagles captain’s market value has dropped by a massive €7.5m due to recent setbacks with club and country.
A spate of injuries limited Mikel’s all round impact with Teda and Nigeria to the barest, with several missed matches against his name owing to a spate of injuries, such that his value was bound to be affected.
As another transfer period sets in across world football, startling data have revealed that any club willing to buy Mikel could get him for as low as €3.5m, which is a far cry from €11m that took him to Tianjin.
Dramatically, several football transfer portals have already reeled out updated market figures, and they are all damaging for the 31-year-old former Lyn Oslo of Norway and Chelsea midfielder.
Speculation is now rife that Mikel’s woes in the last half of 2018 might have occasioned Teda, which he joined in January 2017 on a three-year contract as a free agent, to terminate his contract with a year to spare.
The Tianjin-based side, which escaped relegation on the last day of the CSL season in November, are not even holding out for any transfer fee on the Nigerian star, who, in 2013, was valued at €23m.
Mikel, who Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr is also in doubt of his future with the Nigerian national team, is now searching for a new club as he bids to stay relevant for the team, heading into the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sources close to the Jos-born star say he would prefer a return to Europe to be close to his family, but he has also been linked with clubs in Qatar.
This marks an implosion of Mikel’s status from his days with Chelsea of England, where he spent ten and half seasons, with 16 trophies to show.
Mikel joined The Blues from Lyn of Norway, after a protracted transfer battle which involved Chelsea’s EPL rivals, Manchester United, which at that point claimed they had signed him earlier.
