Chelsea Close On £11m De Rossi As John Obi Mikel Looks Set For Exit

With Chelsea set to swap John Obi Mikel for Daniele De Rossi, writer Rayyan Dabbous looks at the two players and assesses how the Blues could line-up next season.

According to the Mirror, Jose Mourinho is closing in on Chelsea’s prime midfield target Daniele de Rossi, with AS Roma having already found a replacement in PSV Eindhoven’s Kevin Strootman who’s set to join the Serie A outfit.

The report claims that Chelsea are in the final stages of negotiations to secure the services of De Rossi for a fee in the region of £11m, with the midfielder set to sign a four-year deal worth £110,000-a-week. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel is ready to part ways with the London club with Monaco, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor all showing interest in the Nigerian midfielder.

Both De Rossi and Mikel have similar roles for their current clubs: orchestrate the play, screen the defense and occasionally provide an extra man in attack.

Daniele de Rossi has been serving Roma for more than 10 years: earning the nickname “Capitan Futuro” (Future Captain) due to his high probability as heir-apparent to Francesco Totti’s captain armband. He is a five time Serie A runner up, a World Cup winner and was named Italian Footballer of the Year in 2009. The 29 year old is recognized as a complete midfielder and he is highly rated, with Real Madrid and Manchester City both showing interest in him over the past couple of years.

Although John Obi Mikel is somewhat an underrated footballer, his notable achievements speak for themselves. The 26 year old has featured for The Blues in more than 250 games: lifting the Premiership trophy in 2010 and winning 4 FA Cup trophies.

He was also part of Chelsea’s successful back-to-back European title wins in 2012 and 2013 and he has been named Chelsea Young Footballer of the Year twice in 2007 and 2008. On the international stage, John Obi Mikel has proved to be a ruthless leader: helping his national team clinch the African Cup of Nations title. He was also named Man of the Match in the Final against Burkina Faso.

Chelsea are set to acquire the Italian’s services at the expense of John Obi’s departure. But in my opinion, I think they should sign De Rossi but also keep hold of Mikel. They could form a formidable midfield partnership at Stamford Bridge and possible be the basis of another Jose Mourinho title-winning team.

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What do Chelsea fans think; should the club sell Mikel and bring in De Rossi? Or is there room for both? Get involved in the comments section.