Super Eagles legend John Obi Mikel recently revealed that Lionel Messi would be his dream guest for the Obi One podcast, reiterating that he believes the Argentine is the greatest footballer of all time. 

The former Chelsea midfielder is one of the retired footballers who are successful as media personalities. 

Mikel has used his platform, The Obi One Podcast, which he co-hosts with Chris McHardy, to celebrate players he respects and to tell behind-the-scenes stories, and the show’s guest list reads like a who’s who of world football: early episodes featured John Terry and Frank Lampard, and subsequent instalments have included Victor Osimhen, José Mourinho, Robert Pires, Gianfranco Zola and many others.

While he is appreciative of the guests he has had, naming Mourinho and John Terry as two of his best interviews, he shared that he dreams of one day having Messi on his show. 

“Lionel Messi,” Mikel said. “Huge fan of his; played against him so many times. The greatest player to ever play football.”

Mikel’s first meeting with Messi dates back to their first high-profile meeting at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, where Messi won the tournament’s Golden Ball, while Mikel took home the Silver Ball. 

Since then they have faced each other on multiple occasions, either at club level or with their respective national teams.