Former Chelsea star recalls Roman Abramovich offering to ‘send people’ to rescue kidnapped father

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has revealed how then-owner Roman Abramovich offered to personally help out after his father was kidnapped in 2018.

Mikel was speaking of his own experience as he reacted to the recent kidnapping of Liverpool forward Luis Diaz’s parents in Colombia.

“Chelsea were very supportive,” Mikel said, recalling the incident.

“I remember Roman [Abramovich] saying ‘Do you want me to send people over? Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out’. I was like, how are you going to do this?

“He said ‘Don’t worry about that. If you want that option, I can do it.’”

Mikel’s father was safely released days after his kidnapping in 2018.