The captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria John Obi Mikel is in line to be voted the player of the year for his Chinese team Tianjin Teda when they hold their end of season award event.
Despite missing three months due to a knee injury, the former Chelsea midfielder is among the candidates for the player of the year for the club, as his return from injury helped their cause to beat the drop to the second division.
Mikel has so far made 12 appearances for Tianjin Teda in the Chinese Super League with a goal to his name, but his performance has endeared him to the fans and technical crew of the club.
Already he has picked up back to back Man of the Match Award in vital games which helped them beat the drop. Mikel has also proved his versatility as he distinguished himself as a centre defender in some games.
The 30 year old has also been instrumental for Nigeria since the appointment of coach Gernot Rohr one year ago. The only game Nigeria have lost under the Franco-German coach was the game he missed against South Africa in the AFCON 2019 Qualifiers