- John Terry insisted a retired Chelsea star could still play in the Premier League
- The Blues icon's comments came three years after the star retired from football
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Why Eddie Howe is the 'greatest coach of his generation'
Chelsea icon John Terry has claimed one of his former team-mates could still fit into any Premier League side, despite retiring three years ago
The 44-year-old centre back enjoyed a storied career at Stamford Bridge, alongside some of the best midfielders in the world in front of him, such as Frank Lampard , Michael Ballack and Juan Mata.
However, in an interview with talkSport on Wednesday, the Blues icon was full of praise for former team-mate John Obi Mikel, outlining that the former Nigeria International might make an excellent addition to any group or setting. Premier League even after he retired.
The 37-year-old played his last football game for Kuwait SC back in October 2021.
'The performance was outstanding,' Terry commented. 'Having him play right in front of me was incredible. He really covered a lot of ground.'
'I still play in ex-Legends games now and stuff and he can still play. He could still play in the Premier League today. He had it all didn't he?
'Those holding midfielders like Makelele get recognised. There's certain players in that role that don't get the credit they deserve. And Obi was one of them.'
The duo shared the Stamford Bridge pitch between 2006 and 2017, featuring in 266 games together for more than 17,000 minutes.
Both stars lifted numerous major trophies, such as the Premier League in 2010 and 2015, as well as the Champions League in 2012.
The former Nigeria international appeared for the entire 120-minute game against Bayern Munich, in a clash well-remembered by the Blues fans.
Obi Mikel arrived at Stamford Bridge in July 2006 from Lyn FK and was a significant part of Roman Abramovich's push to success.
In total, the Nigerian midfielder racked up 372 appearances for the Blues and scored six goals while adding 12 assists.
However, Terry's words might seem an exaggeration as the Blues have £115million signing Moises Caicedo in their midfield.
Previously, Obi Mikel praised the Ecuadorian, saying he would become the club captain one day should he continue delivering his impressive performance this season , following a nightmare campaign last year.
'We've talked about Moises Caicedo and how much we thought, of course, he didn't start his Chelsea career really well and a few games into his Chelsea career, there were loads of mistakes,' Mikel said on his The Obi One Podcast.
'Everyone was thinking, "Why did we pay so much money for this guy?" Now we can see those performances that he was performing at Brighton and stuff like that so, absolutely fantastic player.
'Now you can feel this is the Moises Caicedo that we all know and also when you watch him, when you look at him right now, you can see that there 's a bit of confidence there .
'I believe he might possibly lead the team as captain.'
Maresca's team currently occupies the fourth spot in the Premier League rankings after suffering a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday.
Despite being eliminated from both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, the team continues their battle in the Conference League quarter-finals, where they will be up against Legia Warszawa.
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