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Chelsea consider letting John Obi Mikel leave as Galatasaray lodge £10m bid
GALATASARAY have stepped up their interest in Chelsea's John Obi Mikel by submitting a £10m bid for the midfielder.
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.
Mikel appears to have dropped down the pecking order at Chelsea following the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge and Napoli boss Rafa Benitez had hoped to be reunited with the Nigerian after being impressed with him last season.
But Galatasaray want Mikel to rekindle his partnership with former Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba in Istanbul instead.
And according to Turkish newspaper Fanatik, Mikel would be willing to take a pay cut to push through a move to Galatasaray.
Asked about speculation he could leave Chelsea this summer Mikel said recently: "I have a four-year contract with Chelsea but you know, in football you can never guess.
"One day you are here, the next day you might leave."
Galatasaray have already secured the signing of former Juventus player Felipe Melo, who played in Turkey on loan last season, but are still thought to want added midfield reinforcements in the form of Mikel.
Galatasaray yesterday offloaded Swedish striker Johan Elmander to Norwich freeing up space for another foreign signing as the Turkish Football Federation only allows clubs to have 10 foreign players on their books at any one time, adding to speculation that a bid for Mikel was imminent.