A popular Nigerian footballer , Mikel
John Obi has shared a sad experience
he had with former Chelsea coach
Antonio Conte .
According to Mikel, Conte ended his
career at Chelsea because he chose to
represent Nigeria at the 2016 Olympics .
Mikel Obi , who stayed at Chelsea for 11
years after arriving as a teenager in
2005 , says he had the opportunity to
represent Nigeria at the 2016 Rio
Olympics but was warned by Conte
who had just arrived at Stamford Bridge
in 2016, that he would not be part of
his plans if he decides to represent
Nigeria at the Olympics .
Mikel , said he snubbed Conte ’ s threats
and went to the Rio Olympics , helping
Nigeria win a bronze medal and in the
process, permanently damaging his
relationship with the Italian coach.
“ I had been called up by my national
team to play and it was a dream , ”
Mikel , 33 , told The Athletic .
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“ It ’ s a dream for anyone to go to the
Olympics . Yes , as players we want to
win the Champions League and the
World Cup , but the Olympics is a
massive tournament. ”
“ This guy [ Conte ] who has just walked
in the door for five minutes is telling me
I had to choose.
“ He was saying , ‘ If you do that, you
won’ t be a part of this team’ . I spoke to
the club and told them that I wanted to
go . The club respected me because of
what I had done for them and how long
I ’ d been there . ” So off I went and I felt
punished for that. I came back and I
didn ’ t make the squad . I was never in
the squad list on matchdays again .
“ The funny thing is, just before the
January window was going to start, he
came up to me and said ‘ I want a
meeting with you ’ . This was after
making me train on my own for months ,
treating a player who had been at
Chelsea for a long time like this !
“ When he tried to meet with me he was
like , ‘ Let ’ s try and make up , I will need
you in the team , let’ s squash this , blah ,
blah , blah !’ . I was like , ‘ Are you joking ?!
Are you f * cking serious ?!’ He knew I
wanted out . I stood up and walked out
of the room. You can ’ t disrespect a
human being like that.
“ I couldn’ t wait for the window to open
to get out . I was talking to the hierarchy
and explaining that I would definitely
have to go . They agreed , they
understood . ”
After the bust up , Mikel within months
went to China on a free transfer joining
Tianjin Teda .
He spent two seasons with the club
before returning to England with
Middlesbrough. He then joined Turkish
outfit Trabzonspor in 2019 but left
months later after being forced to play
football despite the Coronavirus
pandemic .
Mikel then signed a one year deal with
Stoke City in August 2020 and has been
a key figure for the club , starting 28
games in the Championship .