By Becky Usman

Former Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has shared an interesting anecdote about how he earned the trust and respect of his former teammate, John Terry, during their time together at Stamford Bridge. This pivotal moment occurred in a pre-season friendly match against AC Milan at the M&T Bank Stadium on July 25, 2009.

Mikel revealed that it was during this game that John Terry, the former England defender and Chelsea captain, began to see him as a valuable asset to the team. The Nigerian midfielder’s performance against the likes of AC Milan stars Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo, and Gennaro Gattuso left a lasting impression.

During an episode of The Obi One Podcast, Mikel recalled the moment: “I think it was in the United States, we were playing a friendly game against AC Milan [in 2009], and I was feeling the game. I was getting the ball, I was dribbling past the likes of Ronaldinho, I was making successful passes – everything was going well. I was even receiving the ball from the keeper near the 18-yard box.”

Mikel went on to describe how John Terry approached him during the match: “JT [John Terry] came up to me and said, ‘Mate, I think that’s enough now. You’ve had your turn; play simple now.’ I was wondering why he would say that to me because I was in the zone.”

After the game, Mikel approached Terry to seek an explanation for his comments. He was surprised by Terry’s response: “I was like, why would you say that to me? And he said, ‘I was trying to look after you because you were doing so well, and I know you are going to start the season because of the way you’ve been playing in pre-season.'”

Mikel considered that season as one of his best at Chelsea under the management of Carlo Ancelotti, during which he played almost every game until he suffered an injury. That season culminated in Chelsea winning the double, and the incident during the pre-season friendly with AC Milan had a significant impact on Mikel’s journey at the club.