Former Super Eagles captain, Mikel Obi has revealed why former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho played him deeper in the midfield during his time at the London club.
Mikel described his time under Jose ‘The Special One’ Mourinho as rewarding.
The Champions League winner won every major honour possible in his 11-year spell at Stamford Bridge.
Mikel told Pulse Sports: ‘Obviously, I was such a creative midfield player, I was so creative. I was so gifted with the ball, I never lost the ball, and that’s why I played the number 10 role. I was this guy who made everything happen.
‘And then going to Chelsea, obviously with those big-name players, massive players, you have to kind of give something.
‘And then, he [Mourinho] looked at it and said, “I can’t really get you to play it [No 10] because we have the likes of Joe Cole playing there. We have massive names playing there, you’ll have to change something,” and we had a chat about it.
‘I thought it was a positive chat, and after that, he said, “I see you playing there [deeper in midfield].”‘
The midfielder announced his retirement at age 35.
