{{short description|Nigerian footballer (born 1991)}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Joel Obi | image = Joel_Chukwuma_Obi_FC_Internazionale.jpg | image_size = | caption = Obi with Inter in 2011 | fullname = Joel Chukwuma Obi | height = 1.77 m<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tournament.fifadata.com/documents/FWC/2018/pdf/FWC_2018_SQUADLISTS.PDF |title=2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players |website=FIFA.com |publisher=Fédération Internationale de Football Association |date=4 June 2018 |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619164139/https://tournament.fifadata.com/documents/FWC/2018/pdf/FWC_2018_SQUADLISTS.PDF |archive-date=19 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1991|5|22}} | birth_place = Lagos, Nigeria | currentclub = | clubnumber = | position = Midfielder | youthyears1 = 2005–2010 | youthclubs1 = Inter Milan | years1 = 2010–2015 | clubs1 = Inter Milan | caps1 = 50 | goals1 = 1 | years2 = 2013–2014 | clubs2 = → Parma (loan) | caps2 = 8 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2015–2018 | clubs3 = Torino | caps3 = 52 | goals3 = 6 | years4 = 2018–2021 | clubs4 = Chievo | caps4 = 71 | goals4 = 6 | years5 = 2019 | clubs5 = → Alanyaspor (loan) | caps5 = 2 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 2021–2022 | clubs6 = Salernitana | caps6 = 21 | goals6 = 0 | years7 = 2022–2023 | clubs7 = Reggina | caps7 = 1 | goals7 = 0 | years8 = 2024–2025 | clubs8 = Vis Pesaro | caps8 = 17 | goals8 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 2011–2018 | nationalteam1 = Nigeria | nationalcaps1 = 17 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | club-update = 27 April 2025 | nationalteam-update = 14 September 2019 }} '''Joel Chukwuma Obi''' (born 22 May 1991), known as '''Joel Obi''', is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
==Club career== ===Inter=== thumb|left|upright=0.8|Joel Obi with 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 and led occasionally to the first-team of Inter. 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.
In the summer 2010, Rafael Benítez definitively moved him with the first-team. Obi made his debut for Inter on 29 September 2010 in a UEFA Champions League group stage game against Werder Bremen.<ref name="obidebut">{{cite news |title= Joel Chukwuma Obi – Profile|url=http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/players/player=250003339/profile/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327082613/http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/players/player=250003339/profile/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 March 2010 |publisher=UEFA}}</ref> He played the final ten minutes of the match after coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute for fellow midfielder Dejan Stanković. Inter went on to defeat Werder Bremen in a 4–0 shutout.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/01e9-0e75abbcea79-75c484c0b55b-1000--eto-o-hat-trick-eases-inter-past-bremen/|title=Eto'o hat-trick eases Inter past Bremen|date=29 September 2010|access-date=3 June 2014|publisher=UEFA}}</ref>
Obi made his Serie A debut on 17 October 2010 against Cagliari when he replaced Philippe Coutinho in the 66th minute.<ref name="obidebutitaly">{{cite news|title=2010 Serie A, Round 7|url=http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/seriea/matchStats?gameId=2010101710759|publisher=Fox Soccer|access-date=21 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015215953/http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/seriea/matchStats?gameId=2010101710759|archive-date=15 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The game ended 1–0 with a goal from Samuel Eto'o.
Obi started the "Milan Derby" at Beijing for the Supercoppa Italiana 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 were sold in co-ownership to Parma for just €750 and €300,000 respectively .<ref name=Parma2012bilancio/> However, Obi remained at Inter for the rest of the season, collecting 10 appearances in the league, two in Coppa Italia and one in the Champions League. In the league he was a starter under both Gian Piero Gasperini and the new coach, Claudio Ranieri. 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. On 17 January 2012 Parma sold their 50% share of Obi back to Inter for €3.2 million (€1.7 million plus Crisetig)<ref name=Parma2012bilancio>Parma F.C. S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012. [http://www.registroimoprese.it PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and his salary was raised to a reported €600,000 per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/2012/settembre/11/Tutti_gli_ingaggi_della_Solo_ga_10_120911011.shtml|title=Tutti gli ingaggi della A Solo Milano svolta Impennata della Juve Partita da un miliardo Stipendi: la dieta c' è, ma non si vede|date=11 September 2012|access-date=1 May 2016|work=La Gazzetta dello Sport|language=it}}</ref> On 29 April, Obi scored his first goal in Serie A against Cesena, 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 Coppa Italia and seven in the Champions League, plus one in the final of Supercoppa Italiana. 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 scoring the goal of 0–2,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://it.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0202-0e9d7903f82f-4103b9ffe368-1000--la-baby-inter-convince-a-baku/|title=La baby Inter convince a Baku|work=UEFA|access-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> which was the 500th goal in UEFA<ref>{{cite news|title = Il tacco di Coutinho|publisher = La Gazzetta dello Sport}}</ref> competition for Inter. He concluded the season with two appearances in the league, one in the Coppa Italia and one in the Europa League.
====Parma (loan)==== On 2 September 2013, he was loaned to Parma,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.inter.it/en/news/43616|title=Joel Obi moves to Parma|date=2 September 2013|access-date=3 June 2014|publisher=FC Internazionale Milano|archive-date=6 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606211238/http://www.inter.it/en/news/43616|url-status=dead}}</ref> in an away match against Catania, 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 Europa League against Stjarnan. Obi continuously played as a winger in Walter Mazzarri'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, scoring the equaliser (1–1),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/joel-obi-strike-earns-inter-derby-point-over-rival-ac-milan-roberto-mancini-112314|title=Joel Obi's strike earns Inter derby point over rival AC Milan|date=23 November 2014|access-date=23 November 2014|work=Fox Sports}}</ref> 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 for a €2.2 million fee and signed a 4-year contract.<ref>Torino F.C. S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2015 (in Italian), [http://www.registroimprese.it PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kicknews24.com/news/official-joel-obi-joins-torino/ |title=Official: Joel Obi Joins Torino |publisher=Kicknews24.com |access-date=3 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065147/http://kicknews24.com/news/official-joel-obi-joins-torino/ |archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://torinofc.it/news/02/07/2015/joel-obi-al-toro_8577|title=Joel Obi al Toro|date=2 July 2015|access-date=2 July 2015|publisher=Torino F.C.|language=it}}</ref> 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 on 7 February 2016, replaced by Alexander Farnerud 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 Serie A club Chievo Verona on a three-year contract with an option for another season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.tuttomercatoweb.com/chievo/?action=read&idtmw=1145015|access-date=11 August 2018|title=UFFICIALE: ChievoVerona, ecco Obi: contratto triennale con opzione|archive-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812021701/https://m.tuttomercatoweb.com/chievo/?action=read&idtmw=1145015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Obi was loaned to Turkish club Alanyaspor in January 2019 for the second half of the 2018–19 campaign.<ref name=Salernitana />
During the 2020–21 season, the midfielder scored four goals in 31 Serie B games for Chievo.<ref name=Salernitana />
===Salernitana=== On 21 July 2021, Obi signed with newly promoted Serie A club U.S. Salernitana 1919 on a free transfer.<ref name=Salernitana>{{cite web|url=https://www.goal.com/en/news/joel-obi-salernitana-sign-former-chievo-midfielder/hh2kxid2r3ow1lkhsc63r1ds6|title=Joel Obi: Salernitana sign former Chievo midfielder|website=Goal|date=21 July 2021|accessdate=22 July 2021}}</ref> Obi agreed to a one-year contract with the option of an extension.<ref name=Salernitana />
===Reggina=== On 20 July 2022, Obi joined Reggina on a two-year contract.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Reggina|url=https://www.reggina1914.it/notizie/joel-obi-e-un-calciatore-amaranto/|title=JOEL OBI È UN CALCIATORE AMARANTO|date=20 July 2022|access-date=20 July 2022|language=it|archive-date=21 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021194840/https://www.reggina1914.it/notizie/joel-obi-e-un-calciatore-amaranto/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Vis Pesaro=== In January 2024, Obi joined Serie C Group B club Vis Pesaro on a two-year contract.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vispesaro1898.it/vis/vis-pesaro-joel-obi-ufficiale/|trans-title=JOEL OBI IS RED AND WHITE!|title=JOEL OBI È BIANCOROSSO!|website=www.vispesaro1898.it|language=Italian|date=10 January 2024|accessdate=10 January 2024}}</ref>
==International career== Obi made his international debut for the Nigeria national team on 9 February 2011 in a friendly game with Sierra Leone in Lagos. 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.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Oluwashina|last1=Okeleji|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27302995|title=World Cup 2014: Nosa Igiebor cut from Nigeria squad|date=3 June 2014|access-date=24 November 2014|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref>
In June 2018 he was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.<ref>{{cite news |title=World Cup 2018: Arsenal's Iwobi in Nigeria's 23-man squad |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44346451 |access-date=18 October 2022 |work=BBC Sport |date=3 June 2018}}</ref>
==Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|22 May 2022}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Joel obi Inter Profile |url=http://www.inter.it/en/squadra/G0851 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626163929/http://www.inter.it/en/squadra/G0851 |archive-date=26 June 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Soccerway|joel-chukwuma-obi/85498}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National Cup !colspan="2"|Continental !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="5"|Internazionale |2010–11 |rowspan="4"|Serie A |10||0||2||0||1{{efn|name=UCL}}||0||0||0||13||0 |- |2011–12 |27||0||2||0||7{{efn|name=UCL|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}}||0||1{{efn|Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana}}||0||37||0 |- |2012–13 |2||0||1||0||1{{efn|name=UEL|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}}||1||colspan="2"|—||4||1 |- |2014–15 |11||1||1||0||3{{efn|name=UEL}}||0||colspan="2"|—||15||1 |- !colspan="2"|Total !50!!1!!6!!0!!12!!1!!1!!0!!69!!2 |- |Parma (loan) |2013–14 |Serie A |8||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||8||0 |- |rowspan="4"|Torino |2015–16 |rowspan="3"|Serie A |10||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||11||1 |- |2016–17 |20||0||3||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||23||0 |- |2017–18 |22||5||3||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||25||6 |- !colspan="2"|Total !52!!6!!7!!1!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!59!!7 |- |rowspan="4"|Chievo |2018–19 |rowspan="2"|Serie A |11||1||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||11||1 |- |2019–20 |29||1||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||29||1 |- |2020–21 |Serie B |31||4||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||32||4 |- !colspan="2"|Total !71!!6!!1!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!72!!6 |- |Alanyaspor (loan) |2018–19 |Süper Lig |2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||2||0 |- |Salernitana |2021–22 |Serie A |21||0||2||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||23||0 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !204!!13!!16!!1!!12!!1!!1!!0!!233!!15 |}
{{notelist}}
===International=== {{updated|22 June 2018}}<ref>{{NFT player|41934}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="8"|Nigeria |2011||11||0 |- |2012||0||0 |- |2013||0||0 |- |2014||1||0 |- |2015||0||0 |- |2016||0||0 |- |2017||0||0 |- |2018||4||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!16!!0 |}
==Honours== '''Internazionale''' * Coppa Italia: 2010–11 * Supercoppa Italiana: 2010 * FIFA Club World Cup: 2010
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Nigeria squad 2018 FIFA World Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obi, Joel}} Category:1991 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Lagos Category:Nigerian men's footballers Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Nigeria men's international footballers Category:2018 FIFA World Cup players Category:Serie A players Category:Serie B players Category:Serie C players Category:Süper Lig players Category:Inter Milan players Category:Parma Calcio 1913 players Category:Torino FC players Category:AC ChievoVerona players Category:Alanyaspor footballers Category:US Salernitana 1919 players Category:AS Reggina 1914 players Category:Vis Pesaro dal 1898 players Category:Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Category:Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Category:Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Category:21st-century Nigerian sportsmen