John Mikel Obi has been handed a shock start by Jose Mourinho in their lunch time crunch tie against Everton at the Goodison park this afternoon.
Chelsea were set to sell the Nigerian international before in the last summer transfer window, but Mourinho reportedly halted the move.
Mikel, 28, has been at Chelsea since 2006 and made over 200 Premier League appearances for the four-time champions.
The midfielder has seen his playing time radically reduced since the arrival of Nemanja Matic from Benfica as the Serbian is quite clearly a much better defensive midfielder. Mikel only made 18 appearances in the Premier League for the Blues last season and is yet to play a single minute of the current campaign.
Mikel intends to see out the remainder of his Chelsea contract, quashing rumours he is set to leave the Premier League champions.
He has fallen behind Matic, Cesc Fabregas and Ramires in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge and but his chances of regular playing time this season looks likely to increase.
There were speculations the 28-year-old could leave the London club, with Super Lig side Fenerbahce among those linked with his signature.
Mikel is keen to stay and fight for his place, though, telling Chelsea's official website: "I want to stay and the manager wants me to stay.
"I've got two years here and I'm happy. I like to be somewhere where I have developed friends and family. It's like my family here and every day I come to work it is like coming in to see my family.
"I know all the players and all the staff so it's going to be a hard place to leave when my contract runs out but let's see what happens. I want to see out my two years."
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