Former Nigeria International midfielder, John Obi Mikel has announced his retirement from professional football.
“Nchekube”, as Mikel is fondly called by childhood friends made the announcement on his Instagram page @mikel_john_obi earlier today.
He said: “all good things must come to an end”, and for my professional football career, that day is today. I look back at the past 20 years of my career, and I must say that I am very satisfied with all that I was able to achieve and more importantly the human it has helped shape. All of this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family, managers, clubs, coaches, teammates, and most importantly my ever-loyal fans. You supported me through my highs and lows, even on days that I did not live up to your expectations. I say a big thank you. I will also like to encourage everyone who I may have inspired one way or the other in the course of my career to never give up on their dreams, for every time you think about quitting, remind yourself why you started. This is not goodbye, it’s the start of another journey, another chapter of my life. I look forward to what the future holds and I hope you will walk with me. Thank you”.
The statement on Instagram has been revibrating on social media with an outpouring of support coming from all over the world, particularly from fans in Nigeria and the United Kingdom where he spent over twelve years as a professional.
Mikel started his professional career with Junior El-Kanemi in Jos, Plateau State northcentral Nigeria as a teenager.
From there he joined Plateau United FC in 2002 and in 2004 joined Lynn Oslo of Norway.
From Lynn Oslo he signed for Old-Trafford giants Manchester United in a highly controversial transfer logjam in 2005 but terminated the contract on mutual consent to team-up with Chelsea in 2006, a team he spent close to eleven years with.
While with Chelsea he won virtually everything in club football, two English Premier League titles, Four English FA Cup crowns, two league cup, one Community Shield, One Europa league crown and One Uefa Champions League title.
After he left Chelsea in 2017, he teamed up with Chinese Super League side Tianjin Teda from where he returned back to London and joined Middlesbrough for a single season in 2019.
After his stint with Middlesbrough, he had other romances with Trabzonspor in Turkey and returned back to England and signed for Stoke City, where he had a good time, and later Kuwait Sc, a club he left in 2021 and has not played professionally since then.
Internationally, Mikel shot into the limelight with the Nigeria national Under-17 team the Golden Eaglets at the FIFA World Under-17 World Championship in 1993 in Finland.
He also played at the Under-20 World Championship in The Netherlands in 2005 where he helped Nigeria to get all the way to the Final before the Flying Eagles lost to a Lionel Messi-inspired Albeceleste of Argentina 2-1.
He was voted the tournament’s second Most Valuable Player behind Messi.
The same year 2005 he made his full debut with Nigeria, going on to play 91 times for the Super Eagles and scoring six goals.
The climax of his Super Eagles career was winning the Africa Cup of nations on the 10th February 2013 with Nigeria, as they beat the Etalon Stars of Burkina Faso in the final 1-0 at the First National Bank Stadium in Johannesburg.
He also has two AFCON bronze medals in 2006 and 2019 as well as an Olympic bronze medal in Rio 2016.
