During an interview with Goal.com, 29 year old central midfielder, John Obi Mikel, said he would be open to joining Major League Soccer and former Chelsea teammate, Frank Lampard.
I am happy that (Lampard) is back to his best, doing what he loves to do and, one day, who knows, I may go over there and play against him, or play with him.”
The Nigeria international, who has been with Chelsea since 2006, is open to leaving if he is not offered a new deal. Mikel has made 354 career appearances for Chelsea in EPL and cup competitions. He has also registered four goals in 75 career appearances with the Nigerian national team including lifting the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria in 2013. Despite his time with the Club, Mikel hasn’t started a match yet for Chelsea this season and admitted that he will struggle for starts this season.
During the interview Mikel spoke about Frank leaving for the MLS and expectations he and the Club had when Lampard joined New York City FC.
“The first few months or so, it was a bad period for him and he didn’t have the best period out there. They started raising questions here and there about his fitness and what he actually came to do in America. I think we, here [at Chelsea], knew he wasn’t fully fit then, but once he became fit, we can see a different Frank Lampard, the Lampard we know, scoring goals and helping the team.
I think Frank will never stop scoring goals. I think when he is asleep he is still scoring goals.
Unfortunately Frank Lampard won’t be scoring goals at least for the next 3-4 weeks as he’s out with a calf injury.