Chelsea star John obi Mikel has stated that he is hoping Nigeria can make a positive impact at the World Cup 2014. The 27-year-old goes into the competition is one of the players to watch from the African perspective. He is at the prime of his career and after having recently helped Nigeria when the African cup of nations, he’ll be hoping to do the same at the international stage as well. However, Mikel is someone who does not have experience of playing in previous world cups and this will be his first.

Chelsea’s season has been one to forget after not lifting any major silverware as they were eliminated from the Champions League as well as coming out short in their Premier League journey.

Eden Hazard played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s season as the Belgium midfielder turned out to be the top goal-scorer for the club in this campaign and he expressed his disappointment towards everything that Chelsea failed on securing.

"This season was an 'almost' season. Almost in the Champions League final, almost champions in the Premier League. I hope next season it will better and we can go to the next level’’.

"In the English Premier League you play Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United every week and it's very good, but I came here for trophies. This season was good for me, but not collectively because we didn't win anything, and last season we won the Europa League." Hazard said.

Chelsea midfielder John obi Mikel is widely thought to be heading towards the exit door after interest from Inter Milan has been growing in the last few weeks. The Nigerian international has been unable to seal a first-team squad at the club.

This was despite finishing second to Yaya Touré in the African Player of the Year contest. Yaya Touré is widely regarded as the best midfielder in the Premier league right now. Due to his absence of regular first-team football, Mikel’s position in the Nigerian national team is also under threat.

John Obi Mikel has been a name strongly linked with a move away from Chelsea in recent months. This is primarily because the midfielder has lost his position to the new signing Nemanja Matic, who has been quite impressive since coming in a £ 21 million deal from Benfica.

Since he has lost his first-team place, Mikel has been rumoured to be on the lookout for a new club. Inter Milan have been looking at him in the last few weeks. The Italian outfit have been on a decline for the last few years, but they are prepared to spend big in the summer in order to spark a revival.

John Mikel, the soccer star from Nigeria, has been tagged as one of the most overrated sportsmen of the world, especially amidst the players of Premier League.

The rating was published by FTB pro taking a host of factors into account such as unwarranted praise, vast wealth and undeserved accolades some players have somehow managed to pull in for diddly-squat.

It has been found that Mikel is going on racking up trophies and appearances in Chelsea while contributing almost nothing for his team on field.

Next to the Nigerian, the one who comes up in the list is Theo Walcott. Yes, there’s no denying of the fact that the footballer is really speedy but Walcott’s mere pace is never enough to skirt his defects as a soccer player. He badly lacks the right vision, technique & attitude aspects- the most significant attributes one needs to maintain to be an ideal soccer player.

Moreover, his constant demand for wage hike in Arsenal has put forward another reason to dislike him.

Jose Mourinho has praised John Obi Mikel as the Portuguese coach considers him to be a ‘’genius’’ as he told Chelsea’s official website. “Mikel is a genius in his position. It is a miracle if he loses the ball’’.

Mikel said that coming to such a big club like Chelsea as a young 18 years old player was a dream come true for him but stated that during his early days at the Premier League club was intimidating.

“I remember coming into the dressing room and I was shaking all through the first week. The players in there really helped me settle in - John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and the other African players that were there at the time.

“I looked at these guys every day and I learned a lot from them, how they act on and off the football pitch, which helped me develop and mature as a person. It was a growing up stage which I never had with any other team. I just jumped straight into this team so I had to learn that way,” he said.

John obi Mikel has stated that he is very much looking forward to playing in the Champions League against Galatasaray, as this match will see the reunion of Didier Drogba. Drogba left the club back in 2012, but he is still regarded as a legend at the club.

Jose Mourinho has spoken in length about how Drogba is destined to face Chelsea in this year's Champions League because it has happened to him on several occasions. Mourinho has come up against his former clubs like Barcelona and Chelsea on numerous occasions.

John obi Mikel has had to live with the unwanted record of not having found the back of the net in more than 250 appearances for Chelsea.

The Nigerian midfielder was signed back in 2006, but he had not found a single goal to his name despite being a first-team regular in all these years. He finally broke the unwanted record by scoring in the 2-0 win over Fulham. Normally used as a defensive midfielder, Mikel does not go up for corners. Mourinho, though, has been looking to use the height advantage in recent matches.

Cash rich French club AS Monaco is threatening a dream reunion with Didier Drogba for Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel by apparently launching a bid for the Nigerian international.

Turkish giants Galatasaray are eyeing up a cut price deal for the midfielder who is seen as surplus to requirements at Chelsea and reunite him with former Chelsea hero Drogba, who returned to Europe at the end of last season after leaving Chelsea for Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. The Blues reportedly want a staggering £ 16 million for the midfield hard man, which is much beyond what the Turkish club can afford and that is where AS Monaco have sensed a window of opportunity and are looking to exploit it by launching a bid for the player.

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba managed to lift the Champions League title in his final year at the club last season.

After spending just over six months at the Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, the player is back in the big time of European football with the Turkish club Galatasaray. Drogba was one of the key members of the Champions League triumph last season. The 34-year-old has said that he wants to taste success in the competition once again. Drogba and his teammates will be facing Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the competition.

This is seen as a daunting task for the Turkish club given that Real Madrid are one of the favourites to lift the competition this season.