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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Italian club

Vis Pesaro Vis Pesaro dal 1898 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Vis Pesaro, is an Italian association football club located in Pesaro, Marche. The club currently plays in Serie C. The team is the largest in the city and among the oldest in Italy. Vis Pesa ...

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 (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

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 * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, ...

. 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, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. In the summer 2010,

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

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 (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

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. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. 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 football manager and former player. He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 2011, when he announced his retirement from ...

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

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut on 17 October 2010 against Cagliari when he replaced

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club CR Vasco da Gama, Vasco da Gama, on loan fr ...

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 Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

. Obi started the "Milan Derby" at

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

for the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

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 Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

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 Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

and one in the Champions League. In the league he was a starter under both Gian Piero Gasperini and the new coach,

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

. 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 ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. 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 (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

, 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 (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

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

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

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 on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, 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. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

. Obi continuously played as a winger in

Walter Mazzarri Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several smaller Italian sides and in 2007 ...

'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 status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, 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 ( , ; ; , then ) 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. The city is main ...

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 an Italian football club named after and representing Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto. It is owned since 2024 by the team' ...

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, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, 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 play ...

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 (), officially known as Serie 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 season. It had b ...

games for Chievo.

Salernitana

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

U.S. Salernitana 1919 Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional 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 recently in 2011. The current ...

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 on a two-year contract.

Vis Pesaro

In January 2024, Obi joined

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

Group B club

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 to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. 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 national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Internazionale *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

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 AS Reggina 1914 players Vis Pesaro dal 1898 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 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen