Mikel has become the latest major player in the English Premier League to join the Chinese Super League money Rush after he left Chelsea to Tianjin Teda for £ 140,000 a week three-year contract.
Rio 2016 bronze medalist, insisted that instead of warming the bench for Chelsea Handler Antonio Conte, his current stay in Asia after avoiding interests such as Valencia and Inter Milan was not just the monetary gains, but in the interest of Nigeria.
29-year-old Eagles skipper, has always been optimistic of Nigeria's bright chances to secure one of the five cards transferred to Africa for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
"I could easily have stayed at Chelsea for the remaining six months of my contract, but it will not be in the best interests of their people, as they need not recovered when the World Cup 2018 qualifiers resume.
"It was not an easy decision to take more seriously need matches to stay in good shape for Nigeria. Nigerians do not deserve to miss the World Cup after back to back failure to qualify for the African Cup of Nations," said Mikel Owngoalnigeria.com.
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