Given his demeanour as a player, John Mikel Obi was an unlikely candidate for the post-career transition he is now nailing so well.
The former Super Eagles star was many things, but garrulous and given to controversy he was not. His personality off the field seemed to mirror his style on the pitch: understated, composed, not unduly insisting upon itself. You could just about see him as a pundit – there was never any doubting his articulation – but of the more measured type, able to elicit knowing, slightly awed nods from his fellow panelists.
The problem is that, in the world of modern football media, that archetype is going the way of the dinosaurs. Put simply, the style is neither snackable nor bombastic enough to sufficiently bait or arrest attention spans. Credit to Mikel Obi for realising it too, and tailoring his approach accordingly: one gets the sense that, while his statements may indeed match his internal monologue, the manner of conveyance is very much him stepping out of his comfort zone.
A PASSIONATE @Mikel_John_Obi rant on the Chelsea slide towards “being comfortable” with mediocrity.
A MUST WATCH.#beINPL #CFC pic.twitter.com/4RMKzJb0hu
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) August 18, 2024
Through his own Obi One podcast, as well as sundry appearances on TV and on other pods, a metamorphosis has taken place before our eyes. The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner has emerged from his cocoon and is flying squarely in the face of expectation, opinionated on many matters but most especially as it concerns Nigerian football administration and his beloved Chelsea.
Where, at first, it seemed like his main objective was self-glorification, increasingly he has leaned heavily into soundbite, the equivalent of clickbait for social media. His most successful shtick, the back-and-forth with Nicolas Jackson, is helpfully at the intersection of both those ends, simultaneously serving the ‘back in my day’ narrative with which his own career may be lionised in retrospect and the cartoonish, scapegoating strain of outrage commentary that drives the LOLs.
Had Jackson not taken the bait, perhaps it would have died a quick death. However, in engaging, the Senegal international opened a line of correspondence, inviting continued feedback that Mikel Obi, who has now styled himself as traducer-in-chief, has been only too happy to provide. While there is no way the DAZN producers could have known what was about to happen when they asked the former Super Eagles captain onto their broadcast, as soon as Jackson contrived to get himself sent off at the ongoing Club World Cup, it is not a stretch to imagine their eyes must have lit up at what was surely coming.
Interesting that John Obi Mikel is using this opportunity to lambast Jackson. Given the history between the two it feels like Mikel isn’t analysing what happened but just using it as a chance to castigate Jackson. pic.twitter.com/hMWLLANcCx
— Ali Howorth (@ahoworth97) June 20, 2025
His recent ventures, however, highlight the pitfalls of losing oneself in the theatre of it all. In rehashing an old chestnut about funding the hiring of a plane for the 2016 Olympics, Mikel Obi probably hoped his embellishment would once again skate by without much notice. After all, none of those who could check him (and indeed have in the past) enjoy the same profile that he does, and playing up the dysfunction within which much of his international career transpired can only prompt admiration for what he was able to achieve regardless.
This is the danger of the age, however. The virality machine, for all the validation that it provides, demands feeding. So, when asked to weigh in on a player with whom you have been embroiled in a public war of words, a simple appraisal is not enough. Not when you have previously excoriated him; the acerbity had to be raised.
Cue: an expletive-laden broadside that the broadcaster is forced to apologise for after the fact. Similarly, offsetting hotel bills (mind, this is not something that should have happened either, but still…) is simply not weighty enough – it needed to have been the very plane the entire Olympics football team flew to Rio on. Because the more outrageous the claim, the likelier it is to register and generate conversation.
