John Obi Mikel has spoken of first joining Chelsea in 2006.

Speaking to The Athletic, the Nigerian opened up on his career in which the majority was spent at Stamford Bridge in an 11-year stint with the Blues.

"Suddenly, I was sharing a dressing room with all these players I had watched on television back in Africa," he told the Athletic. "I was sitting next to Lassana Diarra. I'd be there thinking, 'Oh my God, it's Didier Drogba. It's Frank Lampard. It's John Terry'.

"Michael Essien (who joined from Lyon in the summer of 2005) really helped me. Michael always told me I was a good player and just reminded me to bring the ball down, control and pass. If you need to dribble, dribble. If you don't need to, just pass. You are strong. You are fast, too. If you can, just push the ball past and run, run, run because they cannot catch you.

'"He was the guy who really helped me and made me have a lot of confidence."