Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel could be on his way to the Italian Serie A if reports out of the Italian peninsula are anything to go by. According to reports in Italy, Juventus have tabled a bid of £15 million for the Chelsea player in their bid to reinforce their midfield and mount a genuine challenge for the league title in the fast approaching 2011/2012 season.
Juventus finished a lowly seventh in the Serie A last season which meant an exclusion from European competition in the upcoming season for a side that has won more top flight titles than any other club in Italy with a record 27 championships.
The Turin based club already boasts of the likes of Felipe Melo, Mohamed Sissoko and Claudio Marchisio in the middle of the park and recently grabbed former AC Milan star Andrea Pirlo on a free transfer.
But new manager, Antonio Conte, himself a former player of the club, is keen to bolster competition for places and considers the 24-year-old Mikel as a good midfield enforcer to have alongside the more creative Pirlo who however doesn’t have age on his side at 32 years.
£15 million price tag
According to Italian newspaper Leggo, Chelsea have slapped a £15 million price tag on the Nigerian, who might find it difficult breaking into the Chelsea first team under new manager Andre Villas-Boas.
There are some problems, though, as Mikel does not have an European Union passport, so would take up the only slot reserved for non-EU passport-carrying new signings this summer. Serie A sides are limited to just one new non-EU player to be brought in from outside the league.
Mikel joined Chelsea in June 2006 from Norway’s Lyn Oslo for £16 million and has since gone on to make over 130 league appearances for the London-based club.
He however faces stiff competition for a spot in the midfield from the likes of Michael Essien, Ramires, Frank Lampard and Yossi Benayoun.
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