Mikel – Why I Returned To England
John Mikel Obi, Super Eagles skipper, has given reason why he
returned to England. Mikel is thought to have left China because his club, Tianjin
Teda was relegated.
But the Middlesbrough midfielder in an interview with UK
Telegraph, said that he returned to England because of his family.
“I missed my family a lot. They come over maybe twice a year and
liked it when they visited, but they were the main reason I had to come back.
“Professionally, it was tough, but I had some good times. It was
a nice city and the people I met at the club were great. But it was definitely
the right time for me to come back and play at a higher level again. I knew I
was going to leave, probably after a year,” he added.
According to him, “It was two years of a huge culture shock. The
food was a problem, the lifestyle, the style in which everything was done.
“When you have been at a club like Chelsea in the English
Premier League (EPL) for 11 years, it was very hard to adapt to how things were
done.
“It isn’t at the elite level, let’s put it that way. The pitches
were poor, stadiums poor, and the medical facilities were not what I was used
to.
“I’m not saying it’s all the Chinese clubs. Some of them are
quite professional, but the one I was at, it wasn’t as it should have been.
“It became tough for me almost straight away. I wouldn’t say I
regretted it, I had a good time with my team-mates, but it was never easy”, he
said.
“The standard of football, it’s not even Championship standard.
I realised that very quickly. It’s a league that wants to grow, they are
putting a lot of money in, but it is a long way behind.
“I think they are going to struggle to get where they want to
be. When you look at the MLS, it’s much easier for players like me who have
played in Europe at a high level, who speak English, to go there.
“I think the league in America is on the rise, but for me China
is a long way behind them. You can only advance so much by throwing money at
something and the Chinese contracts are very generous, but it’s still going to
struggle to become a top league. Maybe it’s the language, maybe it’s because it
can seem quite alien, it’s daunting,” Mikel Obi said.
Mikel signed for Tianjin Teda after winning the UEFA Champions
League (UCL), the EPL twice and three FA Cups in his 11 years at Chelsea.
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