John Obi Mikel’s rise to fame began at an early age when he started playing top-flight football at the age of 15 for Plateau United in Nigeria. He then moved to Ajax Cape Town in South Africa but it was his appearances for Nigeria at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship where Mikel gained global recognition. Nigeria ended the tournament with defeat in the final but Mikel won the tournaments Silver Ball after being voted as the second best player.

After a brief spell for Lyn Oslo in Norway, Mikel signed for Chelsea in June 2006. The player trained with Chelsea for a week and manager Jose Mourinho had seen enough to wish to sign him. The then manager has been quoted as saying ‘Everybody was in love, not just me. The players were amazed at a young boy coming to train with us with such quality.’

Mikel scored his first goal for Chelsea in their 6-1 FA Cup win over Macclesfield Town and also scored in the following round against Nottingham Forest. Mourinho developed Mikels talent in the holding midfield role, notably with outstanding performances against Tottenham Hotspur and the Champions League games against Valencia and Liverpool. He went on to win the clubs Young Player of the Year award in his first full season (an honour that he also won the following year).

Mikels height and great strength, allied to superb ball control and a wide range of passing allows him to break up the oppositions attack and spread the play successfully. A role defined by former Chelsea player Claude Makelele, Mikel certainly has the ability to be a perfect successor.

After performing admirably in this role throughout the 2008-09 season, helping Chelsea to the League title, his ever improving play was rewarded with a new long term contract on the 22nd July 09.