John Obi Mikel and Stewart Downing will become free agents this summer after Middlesbrough decided not to offer the pair new contracts.
Mikel joined Boro on a short-term deal in January transfer window following a spell at Chinese club Tianjin TEDA and made 18 appearances in the Sky Bet Championship scoring his only goal for the club on the final day of the season against Rotherham United.
Downing, 34, has been at Middlesbrough since 2015, re-joining the club he joined as a youth player and spent eight seasons with in the Premier League from 2001-2009.
He won the League Cup with the club in 2004 and also played a pivotal role in their run to the UEFA Cup final in 2006.
Both players will be searching for new clubs, with plenty of Premier League experience between them.
Boro have also decided to let go 40-year-old goalkeeper Konstantopoulos, who has been at the Riverside since 2013, and fellow ‘keeper Longergan, who went on loan at Rochdale in February and failed to make an appearance for Boro.
16 Comments
So this is where all the AFRICAN ZIDANE noise making ended up.
Mikal is a hero. A legend before our eyes.
@Pompei, what do u mean or how do u mean by this is where African zidane end up? He signed a short term contract with the club and he has complete his deal, is there anything wrong with that? Mikel is a good player he will get many offers when transfer window opens, please Oga don’t mock him yet, Ok.
Vitalis, if they really see him as AFRICAN ZIDANE, why let him go? If you have something you really value, will you let it go? My comment was not a mockery of anyone. Rather, it was to draw attention to how fickle fans can be. Today, they are praising you to high heavens, tomorrow, you are out the door.
His short term contract is with a clause of renewal if the club gets promote to the premier league and they did not achieve that goal and he has to go else where at the end of the contract. That doesn’t make Mikel a bad player
The article reads – John Obi Mikel and Stewart Downing will become free agents this summer after Middlesbrough decided not to offer the pair new contracts.
The club decided not to offer Mikel a new contract. I just like to call a spade a spade. How else can this be explained? If they offered Mikel a contract, and he rejected it, that is another thing entirely. But for the club to not make an offer, that to me speaks volumes. Mikel has many good things on his resume. This is not one of them.
Pompei, forget the article. Once it was clear they will not make the playoffs, Mikel was looking elsewhere. This was mutual not as you are trying to insinuate. How come Norwich & Sheffield United who have just been promoted are currently discussing with Mikel’s representatives. Stop trying to bring down our players. Mikel was made Captain in Middlesborough what does that tell you. Mikel knows what he wants and will make his choice in due course based on what’s best for him & his family.
Adisboy, I’m not trying to bring Mikel down. I’m just making an observation. Middlesbrough failed to make the playoffs. And Mikel was a big part of the Middlesbrough team! We can say Mikel did well, but the other players let him down. We can also say Mikel was brought in to help Middlesbrough achieve promotion, and that objective failed. We can interprete this in a hundred ways, to suit Mikel, or to make him look bad. My point is this – after all the AFRICAN ZIDANE praise, I expected at a minimum that Middlesbrough would want to hold on to him, by offering him a contract extension, or even an improved contract. If they are willing to let him go just like that, then what was the point of all the praise and adulation? To intimidate opponents? Or for propaganda purposes? That’s what I don’t understand!
I always thought the comparison of Mikel with Zidane was laughable. They are two completely different players. The big difference between the two is that Zidane scored truckloads of goals. Zidane is a trequartista. Mikel is a regista. Both are playmakers. But while Zidane is a playmaker in the final third, Mikel is a deep lying playmaker. Zidane is always looking to go forward, Mikel is looking sideways and backwards. Zidane is offensive minded. Mikel is more about keeping possession and balance. Both are very important in their role, but definitely not similar.
@Pompei you are Wrong Mikel just made a poor career choice all those years back he should have gone to Manchester United instead Sir Alex Ferguson would have turned him into a World beater instead he chose Chelsea and Mourinhio Finished his career . That’s unfortunately the Curse of a lot of Nigerian Players a certain Kelechi Iheanacho as well. can you believe Mauricio Ponchentino wanted him at Tottenham Hotspur and he chose Leicester City instead Look where he is now he cannot even trap a ball sad!!.
@Pompei Mikel use to Score a lot of Goals at Lynn Oslo (Norway) before, the Career defining moment of Choosing Mourinho over Alex Ferguson. Dont forget his World Cup Under 20 Tournament in 2004 where he and Lionel Messi where the best players by Miles.
“Mikel used to Score a lot of Goals at Lynn Oslo (Norway)”….
Maybe you are referring to the reserves or the U18 team of Lynn. If you were actually referring to the first team, i’m sorry mikel only scored 1 goal and made 2 assists for the senior team in his first and only season with the senior team.
Ugo Iwunze, goal scoring was never Mikel’s forte. Even in the U-20 world cup where he was second to Messi, goals where never a big part of his game. Mikel excelled in other areas, which was what brought him to the limelight. Instead of calling him AFRICAN ZIDANE, a more suitable name would be AFRICAN PIRLO. Mikel’s game is more compatible with players like Andrea Pirlo, Fernando Redondo, and other good deep lying playmakers. A dog and a wolf may look alike, but they are completely different animals, behavior wise. A regista (e.g. Mikel, Pirlo, Redondo, etc) is a playmaker, like a trequartista (e.g. Okocha, Zidane, Maradona, etc). But the way they go about their playmaking is what separates them.
Pomp€i u ar On point
Assume that I join a company on a 3-month temporary assignment. From my first day, I start receiving really high praise. Wow, you are so good at this! Wow, your experience is fantastic! We need to make you one of our divisional managers! In fact, you look like a great candidate to be our next CEO! This praise continues throughout the 3-month period. As the assignment comes to an end, what would be my expectation? What would be the expectation of any rational person, given what transpired during the 3-month period? At a minimum, the expectation is that the company will make me an offer!
The company now says – OYA, COME AND START GOING.
Is it irrational or illogical for me or anyone else observing to be shocked? So after all the praise and adulation, it all ends up with me being shown the door?
That is my question for Middlesbrough regarding what transpired between them and Mikel. It is very strange indeed!
So the question remains – After all the AFRICAN ZIDANE noise making, is this where it all ended up?