Premier League club Chelsea have ruled out Team Nigeria skipper John Obi Mikel from scoring their 5,000th league goal in the top-flight.

The defensive midfielder is away on international duty with his country’s Olympic squad, and is unlikely to be available for selection for Monday’s meeting against West Ham at Stamford Bridge.

Two days before the Blues’ Premier League opener, Mikel and his international teammates face an opponent yet to be determined in the quarterfinals of the Olympics at Fonte Nova Arena, Salvador, and the earliest time he can arrive in London is Sunday if Nigeria fail to progress to the semifinal.

Before the 29-year-old joined the Nigeria U23s at their get-together in Atlanta, he featured in three pre-season matches, logging 154 minutes in the process and scored against ATUS Ferlach.

Mikel’s next appearance in the English topflight would be his 250th, while he has to make 28 more appearances before reaching 400-game milestone for Chelsea in all competitions.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com