Joel Chukwuma Obi (born 22 May 1991), known as Joel Obi, is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Inter

After winning the "Allievi Nazionali" Under-17 championship in 2008 under the guidance of Daniele Bernazzani, Obi moved to the '' Primavera'' formation, where he collected over 40 appearances and six goals in just under three years. In 2009, he was noticed by

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

and led occasionally to the first-team of

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

. In 2010, even if without playing, he was registered to the club's 'A' list of players, who won the Champions League in the final against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. In the summer 2010,

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under-1 ...

definitively moved him with the first-team. Obi made his debut for Inter on 29 September 2010 in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

group stage game against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. He played the final ten minutes of the match after coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute for fellow midfielder

Dejan Stanković Dejan Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Станковић, , born 11 September 1978) is a Serbian professional manager and former player. He currently manages Italian club Sampdoria. He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 201 ...

. Inter went on to defeat Werder Bremen in a 4–0 shutout. Obi made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

debut on 17 October 2010 against Cagliari when he replaced

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...

in the 66th minute. The game ended 1–0 with a goal from

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

. Obi started the "Milan Derby" at

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

for the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

on 14 November but had to be substituted after only 35 minutes because of injury, he was replaced by Coutinho. In January 2011, Obi and

Nwankwo Obiora Nwankwo Obiora (born 12 July 1991) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Portuguese club Chaves. Club career Obiora began his career with Lagos based club ECO FC, before he signed for Heartland. He was loaned to Wikki ...

were sold in co-ownership to

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

for just €750 and €300,000 respectively . However, Obi remained at Inter for the rest of the season, collecting 10 appearances in the league, two in

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

and one in the Champions League. In the league he was a starter under both

Gian Piero Gasperini Gian Piero Gasperini (born 26 January 1958) is an Italian football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Italian side Atalanta. Playing career Gasperini entered the Juventus youth system at the age of 9; during his stay ...

and the new coach,

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in It ...

. On 27 September he got his first start in the Champions League, and on 1 October, was sent for the first time in his career after a second yellow card at home to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. On 17 January 2012 Parma sold their 50% share of Obi back to Inter for €3.2 million (€1.7 million plus Crisetig)Parma F.C. S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
/ref> and his salary was raised to a reported €600,000 per year. On 29 April, Obi scored his first goal in Serie A against

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, the momentary equaliser 1–1, in an eventual 2–1 victory. He concluded the 2011–12 season with 27 appearances in Serie A, two in

and seven in the Champions League, plus one in the final of

. However, his season was cut short by a bad injury that restricted him to a long period of rest. Remaining at a standstill due to injury, he returned to the field in 2012–13 season, exactly on 4 October, in the victory away from home 1–3 against Neftchi Baku in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

scoring the goal of 0–2, which was the 500th goal in

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

competition for Inter. He concluded the season with two appearances in the league, one in the

and one in the

Parma (loan)

On 2 September 2013, he was loaned to

, in an away match against

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, substituting Marco Parolo. After only eight appearances he returned to Inter.

Return to Inter

On 28 August 2014, he returned to play for Inter in a home match won 6–0 in the

against

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...

. Obi continuously played as a winger in

Walter Mazzarri Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian former footballer and head coach, most recently in charge of Serie A club Cagliari. After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several ...

's 3-5-2 formation due to the numerous injuries of his teammates. On 23 November, he played as the starter in the Milan

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, scoring the equaliser (1–1), in his first goal of the season, celebrating with somersaults. He returned to the field as a starter in the home match lost 0–1 against Torino on 25 January 2015, playing as a fullback. He concluded the season with 17 appearances and one goal. Overall for Inter he made 71 appearances and scored three goals.

Torino

On 2 July 2015, Obi transferred to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

for a €2.2 million fee and signed a 4-year contract. At the beginning of the season he quickly suffered two injuries, the last of which, constraint him to missing the first half of the 2015–16 season. He returned to the field, playing as a starter in the match against

Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Football in Italy, Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and o ...

on 7 February 2016, replaced by

Alexander Farnerud Alexander Hans Christian Farnerud (born 1 May 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as attacking midfielder. Starting out at Landskrona BoIS in the early 2000s, he went on to represent clubs in France, Germany, Denmark, Sw ...

in the second half. On 26 August 2017, he made his 24th appearance for Torino against Sassulo and scored his second goal and first of the season in the 88th minute. The match ended 3–0 in favour of Torino at home.

Chievo Verona

On 11 August 2018, Obi signed with

club

on a three-year contract with an option for another season. Obi was loaned to Turkish club

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club man ...

in January 2019 for the second half of the 2018–19 campaign. During the 2020–21 season, the midfielder scored four goals in 31

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

games for Chievo.

Salernitana

On 21 July 2021, Obi signed with newly promoted Serie A club

U.S. Salernitana 1919 Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recen ...

on a free transfer. Obi agreed to a one-year contract with the option of an extension.

Reggina

On 20 July 2022, Obi joined

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

on a two-year contract.

International career

Obi made his international debut for the Nigeria national team on 9 February 2011 in a friendly game with

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. He started the next 11 games in a row for ''the Eagles'' before getting injured near the end of 2012. He was named in the preliminary squad for the 2014 World Cup. In June 2018 he was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Internazionale *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obi, Joel 1991 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Nigeria men's international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players Serie A players Serie B players Süper Lig players Inter Milan players Parma Calcio 1913 players Torino FC players AC ChievoVerona players Alanyaspor footballers US Salernitana 1919 players LFA Reggio Calabria players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey