After leaving Stamford Bridge two years ago, he moved to China to play for Shanghai Shenhua before joining Turkish side, Galatasaray, which played Chelsea in the Champions League last-16 last season
Browsing: Galatasaray
The forward netted a brace for Sivasspor in their 3-4 loss to Bursaspor last weekend. The game was the 17th start for the former RC Lens of France player in the Turkish topflight
Mikel still has three years left on his contract at Stamford Bridge but could be allowed to leave with the abundance of talent in midfield at Chelsea and Mourinho hoping to raise funds to sign a world class striker in the summer
Drogba spent eight years at Chelsea and was given a warm reception by the Stamford Bridge faithful, but he could not fire Roberto Mancini’s Galatasaray to their first win away at an English club, having now lost six and drawn three of their nine visits
Mourinho has his heart set on making it to the semis for the eighth time in 10 seasons, and to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs
Having scored 157 goals in 341 appearances for Chelsea, Drogba ensured a Hollywood ending at the club by converting the winning penalty against Bayern at the Allianz Arena
The Italian champions needed to avoid defeat at the Turk Telecom Arena on Tuesday night to book second place in Group B and progression to the knockout stages, while a Galatasaray victory would have seen Roberto Mancini’s men safely through to the last 16 alongside pool winners, Real Madrid
Mikel has also been linked with a move to Napoli or Monaco this summer, but the Turkish club hope that their willingness to formalise their interest will give them the advantage over the Italian and French sides
The offer was considered tempting from the Londoner
The 26-year-old still has four years remaining on his deal in West London, although Mourinho could be convinced to let him move on as he looks to continue his off-season strengthening, having already re-enforced his midfield following the signing of Marco van Ginkel
Though it was Mourinho who signed Mikel in 2006, the source who spoke with Daily Mail, believes that the returning Chelsea boss will consider offers for the tough tackler, perhaps with a view to replacing the former Lyn Oslo man with either Micheal Essien, who spent last season on loan at Real Madrid, or an entirely new signing
The 26-year-old joined the Blues in 2006, snapped up by Jose Mourinho during his first stint with the club between 2004 and 2007
The 26-year-old battler is quoted as saying that he hopes to join his
former Blues teammate, Didier Drogba, and is looking forward to making the move to the Super Lig champions
Mikel, 26, bought for £16 million eight years ago, fell out with Mourinho over his poor time-keeping during the Special One’s first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge
Despite a dominant performance at Malaga last week, Borussia Dortmund failed to score and still have much to do to prevail in their goalless tie, while Paris Saint-Germain’s late rally against Barcelona secured them a 2-2 draw and a lifeline ahead of their visit to the Camp Nou on Wednesday
Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboue wasted the Turkish champions’ best chances
The European governing body said its disciplinary panel would investigate the matter but had not yet set a date
It is recalled that it took the intervention of the world soccer ruling body, FIFA, before the former Chelsea talisman could be eligible to play for his new club, following protest by his former Chinese team
The Ivorian sealed a move to the Turkish champions last month, only for his old club, Shanghai Shenhua, to claim that he was still contracted to them
The Cote d’Ivoire icon will earn €2 million for the remainder of the 2012-13 season, and €4m for the duration of the 2013-14 campaign, with an additional bonus of €15,000 for each match he plays