Mikel reveals Conte forced him out of Chelsea and challenges of African players in Europe

Former Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi has revealed why he left English Premier League side, Chelsea in 2017.

He said shortly after Antonio Conte took over as Chelsea manager, he and his compatriot Victor Moses were invited to represent the Nigerian national team at the Olympics, and the Italian tactician told them that if they leave they should consider themselves no longer part of his team.

He said he convinced Moses to stay back while he went to the Olympics with Nigeria, adding that on his return, Conte sent him to the reserve team.

Speaking in the latest episode of the Vibe with Five podcast, Mikel said, “Conte was the reason why I left [Chelsea]. Once he came in, he was like, ‘You’re not playing anymore.’ Then I left. Obviously, when I saw Conte coming into the club, I was like, ‘My time here is done.’

“The only reason is when he came in, me and Victor Moses and we got invited to the [Nigerian] national team for the Olympics. So, I had a conversation with the club and he [Conte] said, ‘If you go, you’re not playing anymore for the club. Because I’m a new manager, we need to think about the club.’

“And I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve been invited to represent the country at the Olympics.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, but if you go just know that your time here is done.’

“So, I talked to Victor to stay back. I said, ‘I’ve been here a long time. I’ve won everything that I needed to win. You’re just coming, so you should stay.’ And he accepted. So, Victor stayed and I went. After the tournament when I came back, that was it. He [Conte] never spoke to me. He sent me to the reserve team. I was training with the reserves. Then I started training alone for a while. For like six months I did this.”

Mikel also reveals that African footballers are effectively subject to an extra tax as they often support extended family and hangers-on back home.

 The former Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder has claimed some players are even "threatened by their own blood" if they do not offer financial assistance.

"When you come from Africa - and this is something I don't think we speak a lot about - when you make money, it is not your money," said Mikel, speaking on Rio Ferdinand's Vibe with FIVE.

"You have all these relatives, cousins, whatever.

"Your sisters, they go off and get married to some guy. He just wants to get married into John Obi-Mikel's family because then [he thinks] 'my life is sorted'.

"You start looking after this guy and you send money to your sister and the money goes to him and he does whatever he does with it.

"This is the thing nobody knows about - your money is not your money.

"You get a salary and say 'I'll put this aside for this person, put that aside for that person, and put that aside for my mum and dad'. Before you know it, you are getting less than them.

"That is the culture. They expect you to do that. For them, you owe them.

"This story needs to be told. A lot of young African players that are coming up now need to be told this because they will go through similar situations.

"They will need to know how to deal with this."

Mikel says players have to be strong if they decide to stop assisting others financially, as there can be a backlash.

"Sometimes you have to say 'Enough is enough, I don't care'. For me, that moment came about five years ago," the 36-year-old added.

"I said 'No more'

because I have been doing this since I started playing football.

"You become the bad guy. They stop answering your phone calls. They are used to calling you - not to check up on you but to ask 'What are you giving me?'.

"You have to be strong enough. I was giving so much to the family.

"All you do is keep giving and they are so comfortable that they expect you to do that for the rest of your life."

Mikel says players could even be emotionally blackmailed.

"They give you this thing whereby 'If you don't do it [pay], we are going to go to the press'.

"You are thinking, 'You are family. After all I've done for you guys?'.

"In Africa, not everybody comes out and speaks about this because we think 'How are we going to talk about this?'.

"You get threatened by your own blood."