Former Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi has joined Stoke City who play in English second-tier on a one-year deal.
Mikel has been without a club since he quit Turkish side Trabzonspor in March 2019 after a fall-out with the club.
For this third stint in England, the former Chelsea midfielder has joined Stoke City as their fourth signing ahead of the 2020/2021 season.
The 33-year-old who spent 11 years at Chelsea wants to bring his wealth of winning experience to Stoke City.
“It’s good when you come into a football club having won so much and the players can look up to you and say ‘okay, I want to listen to this player‘,” Mikel said during his unveiling.
“So it comes down to what advice I want to give to the player during the game or during training and how I can join them during difficult times..
“I’m looking forward to that and hopefully bring that winning mentality to this team,” the former Nigeria international also said.
“There is always a way to win and we need to find that. Win, win, win. That mentality needs to come into the team, it’s all about winning.
Week in week out, that’s something I did all my life at Chelsea. If I’m able to bring that experience and winning mentality here I will be very happy.”
Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill said he’s delighted with the club’s signing.
“We’re delighted to bring John to the Club. His playing career speaks for itself and underlines his calibre as a player,” O’Neill said.about:blank
“We spent four hours talking and he made it clear he wants to get back into the Premier League and finish his career there and hopefully he can do that with Stoke City.”
This move brings Mikel back to England where he played for Chelsea where he won two Premier League titles twice, as well as three FA Cups, the Champions League and Europa League.
He also had a short-term stint at Middlesbrough, his first Championship experience in 2019.
