The Italian could not beat the midfielder opting to go to the Olympics, missing the Blues’ pre-season and the start of the regular season
Mikel John Obi has spoken out about the uproar with manager Antonio Conte who ended his career at Chelsea.
Conte had just arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2016 when he advised the midfielder that it would not be part of his plans if he decided to represent Nigeria at the Olympics.
Mikel would go to the Olympics in Rio, help Nigeria win a bronze medal and in the process, do lasting damage to his relationship with the Italian.
What was said?
“I was called up by my national team to play and it was a dream,” Mikel said The Athletics. “It is 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 are a big competition. “
“This person [Conte] who has just walked in the door for five minutes telling me I had to make a choice.
“He was saying, ‘If you do that, you won’t be part of this team.’ I spoke to the club and told them I wanted to go. The club honored me for what I did. for them and how long I have been there.
“So I left and I felt punished for that. I came back and I didn’t do the squad. I was never on the squad list on Mother’s Day again.
“The funny thing is, just before the January window was about to start, he came up to me and said ‘I want a meeting with you’. This was after training on my own for months, handling a player who had been at Chelsea for a long time like this!
“When he tried to meet me it was like, ‘We’ll try to make up, I’ll need you in the team, we’ll let this go, blah, blah, blah!’. I was like, ‘Are you kidding ?! Are you f * cking bad ?! ‘He knew I wanted to find out. I stood up and walked out of the room. You cannot despise man like that.
“I couldn’t wait for the window to open to get out. I was talking to the hierarchy and explaining that I definitely needed to go. They agreed, they understood. ”
What happened after the body?
Mikel had been at Chelsea for 11 years before Conte arrived but within months, he had left for China on a free transfer to Tianjin Teda.
The midfielder spent two seasons with the club before returning to England with Middlesbrough. He then moved to Trabzonspor’s Turkish outfit in 2019.
Mikel would return to England ahead of the current season, signing a one-year deal with Stoke City in August 2020.
Mikel, now 33, has been a key player with the Potters this season, starting 28 games in the Championship.