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John Mikel Obi joined Chelsea in 2006, and played a starring role for the club over the next 11 years.

The Blues hero would mostly be remembered for his role in helping Chelsea lift the Champions League in 2012.

Since departing the club in 2017, Chelsea haven’t really signed an anchorman in his mould who has the positional discipline to sit deep and protect his back line.

Frank Lampard’s side is currently missing a deep anchorman, with N’Golo Kante mostly featuring as a box to box kind of midfielder.

Mikel is currently plying his trade with Championship side Stoke City, and has brought his wealth of experience to the Potters.

He lately featured for Stoke in their defeat to Watford, as the Hornets won the game 2-1.

Despite managing to secure a 2-1 victory over the Potters in Friday’s Championship game after a tense encounter, Watford midfielder Will Hughes revealed how Mikel’s performance for Stoke City caused his side problems.

“We did a lot better in the second half with how we pressed because their formation caused us a few issues in the first half,” Hughes told the club website.

“The three in midfield caused us some problems in terms of who was going out to press who and [John] Obi Mikel had a lot of the ball, so we found it hard.

“In the second half we stayed higher up the pitch and pressed a bit more and when you do that in this league you’re not going to find many teams who can play through it. When you apply pressure you’re going to get the ball in the right areas and create things.”