Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has given his blessings to Rangers of Scotland midfielder Joe Aribo to inherit his number ten jersey .
Mikel wore the number for years with the senior national team of Nigeria following the retirement of Austin Okocha who was also the custodian of the number for years.
Aribo picked up the shirt in his first game for Nigeria in a 2-2 draw against Ukraine , a game where he found the back of the net. He retained the shirt in the next friendly game against Brazil and also scored in a 1–1 draw.
His performances saw him keep the shirt number for the AFCON 2021 qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively although he didn’t find the back of the net.
Mikel has however seen enough to anoint him as the man to inherit his number according to a close associate of the former Chelsea ace.
“Mikel was curios to see who will inherit the number. He thought it will be Alex Iwobi but when Aribo excelled in the number he gave his approval in his usual humorous style”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.
“ His prayer is for Aribo to excel with it for the good of the Super Eagles . It’s an iconic number that means a lot to Nigerians and Aribo according to Mikel is fit to wear it”.
