In this piece, Truetells Nigeria chronicles the biography, family, education, career and net worth of Mikel Obi.
Photo of Nigerian footballer Mikel Obi
Mikel John Obi (John Michael Nchekwube Obinna) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
FAMILY
Mikel was born 22 April 1987 in Jos, Plateau State, the son of Michael Obi, who runs an inter-state transport company in Jos.
His father was a member of the Igbo ethnic group.
Mikel Obi is currently in a relationship with a Russian beauty, Olga Diyachenko, and they have beautiful twin daughters together, whose names are Ava and Mia.
Photo of Mikel, his wife and kids
It is unknown if the marriage between the duo has been formalised.
EDUCATION
He had his primary and secondary education in Plateau State, Jos, but the names of the institutions he attended are unknown.
CAREER
At the age of 12, Mikel began his professional football career after being selected by more than 3,000 young athletes as a talented player to play for the Pepsi Football Academy.
At the time, this team was well known for travelling throughout Nigeria looking for young footballers with the potential to play professionally.
Scouts noticed Obi and he was chosen to play for Plateau United, a top-flight team that had previously produced talents like Celestine Babayaro, Victor Obinna, and Chris Obodo, who eventually had success in European leagues.
He gained notoriety after representing Nigeria at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships held in Finland under the name John Obi Mikel.
He then proceeded to a tryout at a South African club, Ajax Cape Town, ultimately joining Oslo-based club Lyn Football in Norway after the competition.
Days after he turned 18, it was revealed that Obi had signed for the English Premier League club side Manchester United in April 2005.
However, controversy surrounded the signing as another English team, Chelsea FC, claimed to have also signed the player.
However, the lawsuit was ultimately decided in favour of Chelsea FC, who later signed Obi from Lyn Football Oslo for the 2006–2007 season.
In September 2006, Obi made his Chelsea debut against the Bulgarian club Levski Sofia in a UEFA Champions League encounter.
From 2006 to 2016, John Obi Mikel spent ten years with the London club Chelsea FC, making 374 appearances across all competitions and netting six goals.
Following Chelsea’s refusal to renew his contract, John Obi Mikel left the English club on a free transfer the following day and joined the Chinese team Tianjin TEDA.
Obi has nearly always represented Nigeria in competitions over the past 13 years.
In 2016, he won bronze with the Nigeria Dream team at the Rio Olympics, where he served as team captain and displayed his leadership abilities in guiding the team despite controversy and a lack of national financial support.
The Nigerian Super Eagles were captained by Mikel John Obi, who successfully guided them to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
He also had a brief stint with clubs like Middlesbrough, Trabzonspor, Stoke City, and Kuwait SC before announcing his retirement.
International Career
At the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, Mikel played for the Nigeria under-20 squad and was awarded the Silver Ball as the tournament’s second-best player (after Lionel Messi) as the continent’s side came in second to Argentina.
On August 17, 2005, he earned his senior team debut for Nigeria when he replaced another player in the second half of a 1-0 friendly victory against Libya.
Prior to being selected for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations team, he did not play for the national team once more.
Mikel did not enter the game when Nigeria faced Ghana in the opening round of the group stage.
He entered the second game against Zimbabwe, nevertheless, early in the second half.
He was chosen by Nigeria for their 35-man preliminary Olympic team in 2016, and he was later made the team’s captain.
In a 2-0 victory over Denmark on August 13, 2016, Mikel scored his first-ever Olympic goal to help his team advance to the semifinals.
Nigeria lost to Germany 2-0 before moving on to play Honduras for the bronze medal. Mikel assisted Nigeria in beating Honduras 3-2 on August 20 to win the bronze medal.
With the 1996 team’s gold and the 2008 team’s silver medals in the Olympics, Nigeria became the first nation to ever take home all three medals.
Mikel assisted Victor Moses and scored a goal in a 3-1 victory for Chelsea over Algeria in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Mikel declared that the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations would be his final competition for Nigeria in July 2019. After the competition, in which Nigeria finished third, he announced his retirement.
Sunday Dare, Minister of Youth Sports Development, appointed Mikel Obi as the Youth Ambassador to the President of Nigeria.
NET WORTH
He has an estimated net worth of $10 million.