Super Eagles Captain Mikel Obi has revealed that the departure of Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado saved the career of compatriot Victor Moses at Chelsea.
The 26-year-old who moved to Stamford Bridge from Wigan for £9m in 2012 – made his first premier league start for the Blues against Hull City just two months ago – ending a wait of 1239 days during which he went on loan at Liverpool, Stoke City, and West Ham United.
Moses is now a prominent figure in Antonio Conte’s team, starting the last nine matches in a wing-back role since the Italian adopted his famous 3-4-3 formation that served him well at Juventus but Mikel puts Moses new found lease of life to the departure of Cuadrado who insisted on a return to Italy after a successful loan spell the previous season with the Old Lady.
“It was a key moment when Cuadrado went back to Juventus – Victor knew that as well,” Mikel told Standard Sport.
“There was a chance Cuadrado would have had the right wing-back role instead, but he wanted to leave Chelsea.
“The situation with Cuadrado made it easier for Victor, but he had already impressed in pre-season by that stage.”
Mikel went on to reveal how he tried to get Moses to ‘Man-Up’ and fight for his Chelsea career.
He added: “This is the happiest I have seen Victor at the club. You can really the notice the change in him at the training ground.
“Whereas in previous years, he could be a bit quiet, now he he is making more jokes and laughing with everyone.
“He has been on loan a lot over the years and I told him to ‘be a man, stay and fight for your place’.
“But he had his own agenda and went on loan instead. I respected that. But this year you could tell he was fed up of going on loan and wanted to compete for a spot.”
After 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge, Mikel is set to leave Chelsea with clubs from China, Spain, and England interested in his services.