Middlesbrough threw back to glory days with bizarre move for Chelsea favourite | OneFootball

John Obi Mikel signed on a short-term deal for Boro in January 2019, and his top-class pedigree would shine through at the Riverside Stadium.

Middlesbrough were thrown back to their glory days when Chelsea and Premier League icon John Obi Mikel signed for the club in January 2019.

With Boro sitting in a play-off place heading into the final week of the 2019 winter transfer window, Tony Pulis was searching for some late additions to help bolster his side's promotion chances.

One such player they'd identified was free agent central midfielder John Obi Mikel, who had been looking for a new club for a number of weeks, having canceled his contract with Chinese side Tianjin Teda by mutual consent.

So, after extensive negotiations, Middlesbrough completed a shock deal for the then 31-year-old on 24 January 2019, signing him to a short-term deal for the remainder of the season.

John Obi Mikel showed his Premier League, Champions League pedigree with Middlesbrough

372 appearances, four FA Cup victories, two Premier League titles, two League Cup wins, and a two-time conqueror of Europe with a Champions League and Europa League triumph; you could say Mikel enjoyed quite a successful time anchoring Chelsea's midfield between 2006-2017.

As such, the Nigerian international still had plenty of miles left in the tank when Middlesbrough signed him as a 31-year-old, which made his move to Teesside even more surprising to the rest of the football world.

Boro fended off reported interest from Premier League side Crystal Palace, as well as Wolfsburg, Roma, Aston Villa and Derby County respectively to secure his signature, and they'd soon be very glad they did.

Mikel almost instantly won a starting role in Pulis' engine room, and his quality instantly shone through at Championship level. A wall-pass player, the decorated midfielder oozed calm, confidence and class on the ball, whilst always making himself available to collect and distribute possession to his teammates.

In the 18 Championship appearances he would make for Middlesbrough in the second half of the 2019/20 season, Mikel would start all of them, and played the full 90 minutes in all but two.

As an indication of his experience, class and leadership qualities, he was even handed the captain's armband for the final six games of the season, and would score a superb left-footed volley on the final day of the season away at Rotherham United.

That goal capped off a superb spell on Teesside for the Nigerian, leaving many Middlesbrough supporters desperate to see him sign on for another campaign. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case, as he instead move to Turkey to sign for Trabzonspor.

He would return to the Championship once again, however, as he spent the entire 2020/21 season with Stoke City, where he would make 41 total appearances for the Potters, before retiring in September 2022 after a short spell with Kuwait SC in 2021.

"What I expected was to be in the play-offs or automatic promotion," Mikel said on his time with Middlesbrough. "It just wasn't to be but the club, the players, the staff, was exactly what I expected, good staff, good players, good human beings. I've had a lovely time here, it's been amazing."

Middlesbrough were thrown back to their Premier League glory days with the signing of John Obi Mikel

Come January 2019, Middlesbrough's glory days in the Premier League that included top-half finishes, and a League Cup win in 2004 that opened the doors to two European Cup campaigns - the second of which would see them lose in the final to Sevilla - were long behind them.

They were times that every Teessider has yearned for ever since, as the Riverside Stadium's golden era saw a host of genuine world-class players don the red and white shirt of Middlesbrough.

Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho, Gaizka Mendieta, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka, Gareth Southgate, George Boateng, Yakubu, Christian Ziege, Michael Reiziger, Bolo Zenden - the list of top class players to represent the club during the late 90s-early 2000s is rather staggering when looking through a modern day lense.

But seeing a player of Mikel's standing in the game and ability to just run the show in the middle of the park was a real throwback to those times for many Boro supporters.

He took the form as a ghost of Middlesbrough midfielders past, whilst also offering fans who maybe weren't around during those early Riverside years a glimpse into what the future could look like should their club ever return to those heights.

A wonderful player, Mikel is the type of signing that current head coach Michael Carrick and head of football Kieran Scott haven't really looked into during their tenures at the club, as Middlesbrough's recruitment philosophy firmly revolves around the signing, development and selling on of young players.

However, Mikel's time on Teesside should act as a reminder that new isn't always best, and that there remains the potential for real experienced impact-makers to be found on the free agent market should Boro decide to take a look.