Mikel played almost two hundred and fifty games for Chelsea between 2006 and 2017, spanning eleven seasons with the London side.
Former Chelsea midfielder, John Obi-Mikel, has shared some of the behind-the-scenes of what footballers face in terms of financial requests from their families, Soccernet.ng reports.
Mikel was a regular at Stamford Bridge throughout his stay at the club before falling out of favour with Antonio Conte in 2016, and then he left for Chinese side, Tianjin TEDA.
Speaking with Rio Ferdinand on the Vibe with Five podcast, the former Super Eagles captain spoke on financial familial relations, as he was always willing to help, but sometimes the requests were just overwhelming.
“When you come from Africa, and you make money, it’s not your money. You have all these relatives, cousins, and whatever you call it who you didn’t know. Then your sisters go off to get married to some guy who just wants to get married into the Mikel Obi family because then their life is sorted, and then before you know it, they have so many children,” the 36-year-old said.
Discussing financial discipline, the former Chelsea midfielder mentioned that Victor Osimhen reiterated his point when they discussed on the Obi One Podcast.
“Sometimes you have to be strong and say enough is enough, but then they tell you they’ll speak to the press. It happens a lot, but then we don’t talk about it. I got to the point where I started saying no about five years ago,” He added.
Paul Pogba mentioned a similar story a few years back where one of his brothers called him out on social media for refusing to render financial help, and Mikel stated that refusing to help comes with its consequences.
“Then they stop picking up your calls. My agent also warned me that a time would come when I might regret giving away too much because they got too comfortable and expected me to keep doing that for the rest of my life.”
Mikel and Ferdinand warned youngsters in today’s game to always be careful and be financially prudent as the footballing career is a short one, and bankruptcy isn’t out of the question no matter how much they make.
The former Super Eagles captain has openly discussed his interest in Osimhen’s transfer to Chelsea, and it remains to be seen if the move will materialize.
