John Obi Mikel – Comparing him to Lionel Messi

Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel and Argentina’s Lionel Messi were both at the world youth championship (FIFA U-20) in the Netherlands in 2005, where they both shone like a million stars, to the delight of football fans around the world.

Both players played as creative/attacking midfielders for their countries in the youth championship. Argentina eventually defeated Nigeria 2–1 in the final to win the trophy; and Lionel Messi emerged as the best player in the world, while John Obi Mikel was voted the second best player at Under-20 level.

Five years later, the gap between the two players has widened so much that one begins to wonder what happened. The Argentinian went to FC Barcelona thereafter and developed his skills to the point of winning several national titles, 2 Champions League titles, 1 Club World Cup, 1 Olympic gold medal, European Footballer of the Year , world footballer of the year, etc. .

But the Nigerian made the mistake of his career by allowing his father to influence him to decide to join Chelsea FC in England. The only achievement he can boast of to date includes some FA Cups, Carling Cups and Community Shield Cup. He has just won his first league title with Chelsea this year.

What went wrong?

Lionel Messi carefully chose a club side that would allow him to develop further and bring out the best in him. John Obi Mikel, on the other hand, turned down an offer from Manchester United that would have allowed him to keep his position as attacking midfielder and further develop his skills. Instead, he opted to go to Chelsea FC because of the money he involved. Arriving at Chelsea, manager José Maurinho turned him into a defensive midfielder and his skills took a nosedive. During the time he has been at Chelsea, Man U have won 3 league titles, 1 club world cup, 1 champions league, etc. Today he regrets his decision: he would have won 3 league titles, 1 Champions League, 1 Club World Cup, several FA Cups and Carling Cups already with Man U. He would also have had the opportunity to shine better than he is. doing now and perhaps being close to Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in terms of ability. But today, he is not in the list of the 50 best players. How ironic!

When choosing a career, one should not only consider the monetary aspect; one must think about the opportunity to develop further, and when the place where he intends to develop his career does not guarantee that opportunity, he must look elsewhere.

Also, you should not allow anyone to influence you when choosing your career. You know what you want; Why don’t you go for what would give you satisfaction? If you make any mistakes early on, you may end up regretting them for life.