Super Eagles captain and former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has explained his recent move to the Chinese Premier League team ,Tianjin Teda.

According to him , despite the fact that he will be getting double his former pay in China, the 29 year old insist the move wasn’t all about money but primarily done to aid Nigeria’s push to be at the 2018 World Cup in Brazil.

“I could easily have stayed in Chelsea for the remaining six months of my contract but it won’t be in the best interest of my nation, as they need me match fit when the World Cup 2018 qualifiers resume”, Mikel told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to make but I seriously need matches to stay fit for Nigeria. Nigerians don’t deserve to miss out of the World Cup after back to back failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations”.