Former Nigeria International, Mikel John Obi recently created a podcast titled ‘The Obi One Podcast’, where he and co-host Chris McHardythey talk about football, and interview famous personalities of the sport. In about two months, they have accumulated a great following and is on its way to being a beloved fan-favorite podcast.
Mikel John Obi played as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea with over 249 games with the Blues and now he has started a podcast to share the stories from on and off the field with his guests and reminisce moments during their incredible run in the Premier League and also the future.
The podcasts are usually over an hour long and Mikel has lengthy discussions with his guests over a host of topics. The Obi One podcast is also sponsored and promoted by Bet Winner, a popular betting app that has helped set up the studio and finance the shows as well.
This newfound success is part of the brilliant marketing of the audience and listeners, where Obi’s stories revealed on the podcast are getting picked up by major outlets and they have used him as a source of information. Ever since then, the podcast has quickly grown from the momentum.
One of the episodes features Chelsea legend, John Terry where he revealed stories about young Kevin De Bruyne and a young Mo Salah, and how as senior players they failed to help them at Chelsea when they were struggling. Jose Mourinho was the coach at the time at Chelsea and he wasn’t impressed by them and their mentalities, even making Salah cry during a match.
Another episode of the podcast that caused a tidal wave was the episode where Victor Osimhen was the guest. Obi tried to become an agent of sorts mid-interview in trying to convince Osimhen to sign for Chelsea after he leaves Napoli. Osimhen’s future has been a topic of discussion and by securing an interview with him, Obi-Mikel raised his podcast’s profile, that genuinely can stand up with legitimate stories, making it an important podcast for bigger media and audience to keep an eye on.
The number of people that have appeared on ‘The Obi One Podcast’, includes Frank Lampard, where he revealed that he asked Chelsea to buy Jude Bellingham from Birmingham and how Chelsea rejected the idea. John Terry also revealed fights that happened between Samuel Eto’o and Kevin De Bruyne, how Mourinho made Mo Salah cry. The inclusion of high-profile guests increases the chances of the podcast’s exposure.
What makes the podcast work is its ability to get Chris McHardy, who asks questions from a fan perspective to Obi, who would share snippets of trivia or behind the scenes stuff like player interactions and managerial approaches.
Fans are loving the podcast, calling it amazing, hearing about locker room stories. Another fan applauded the flowing transition from engaging question to question. The variety of topics discussed was also appreciated by fans.
There was even speculation of a surprise guest for the mid-December episode, with Obi promising some nostalgic play at hand. Many suspected it would be Eden Hazard, with rumours floating around, even Obi sharing an old picture of Hazard, but it turns out the special guest was revealed to be Jose Mourinho. Mourinho being Obi ‘s former coach still seems to be sharing a warm relationship with him.
Obi describes Mourinho as an odd duck of a manager where he will not be happy if the team loses but if the team wins, he is friends with everyone. This episode of the Mourinho edition will be available 18 December.
