Chelsea Hero Lampard Fails To Convince Middlesbrough Bound Mikel To Join Derby County

Published: January 23, 2019

Middlesbrough are on the brink of announcing the signing of John Obi Mikel, with the player passing a medical and agreeing personal terms with the Championship outfit.

The central midfielder had been linked with possible moves to Turkish and Chinese teams but his preferred location is England as he wants to be with his wife and kids who remained in the United Kingdom after his switch to Tianjin Teda.

According to the Daily Star UK, Derby County, who are coached by Mikel's former teammate at Chelsea Frank Lampard, were also interested in signing the defensive midfielder before he underwent a medical at Boro.

Both Boro and The Rams have hopes of a playoff spot as they currently occupy the fifth and sixth position respectively after 28 matches in the division.

Mikel ended a two-year stint in China after mutually terminating his contract with Tianjin Teda in January.

Bartholomew Ogbeche, Carl Ikeme, Kenneth Omeruo and Sammy Ameobi previously played for Boro.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel