Former Chelsea defender John Terry is the Aston Villa assistant manager.
Mikel, who is on the books of Turkish club Trabzonspor at the moment, played with Terry at Chelsea.
The 32-year-old Nigerian midfielder has suggested that he thought that Terry would become the Chelsea manager before Frank Lampard.
Lampard, who played with Mikel and Terry at Stamford Bridge, was appointed as the Chelsea manager in the summer of 2019.
Mikel told 61 Saat, as translated by The Daily Mail: “I am very happy for Frank, when we were playing at Chelsea we were expecting that John Terry and he would be very good managers. But we were expecting Terry to reach that level first.
“Lampard made a big step. I hope he will be successful at Chelsea for many more years. I also want to see John Terry in similar jobs in the future because he was our leader on the pitch.”
Good start to Chelsea managerial career
Lampard guided Derby to the Championship playoff final last season, and the former England international midfielder is doing well at Chelsea at the moment.
The Blues are fifth in the Premier League table at the moment with 14 points from eight matches, just two points behind second-placed and defending champions Manchester City.
As for Villa, Dean Smith’s side are just a point above the Premier League bottom three in 15th place.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
