Super Eagles skipper, John Mikel Obi has been released by Chelsea for the Rio 2016 Olympics football event.
The Nigerian midfielder who is one of the two over raged players picked by coach Samson Siasia for the Games will miss Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States in a bid to fulfill his Olympic dream.
Mikel revealed via his Instagram wall on Saturday, that he will be joining the squad in Atlanta on Sunday.
“First part of the pre-season done; off to Atlanta to join the Nigerian team for the 2016 Olympics,” Mikel wrote on his first Instagram post @john_mikel_obi.
The 29 year old star scored his first pre-season goal in Chelsea’s 8-0 win over Austrian local side Atus Ferlach on Thursday.
This will be Mikel's first Olympic appearance for Nigeria after missing the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to club commitments.