The 20-year-old wears the name Mikel on his shirt even though his surname is Obi.

And the Nigeria international has now made it known that the Mikel part of his moniker was nothing but a mistake.

"Obi is my surname and my other names are John and Michael. When I was playing for Nigeria Under-17s the manager spelled my middle name 'Mikel' on the team-sheet," he said.

"There was no way they could change the spelling after the first game so it became kind of lucky for me. I don't know why really but I just carried it on."