Jose Mourinho reveals why he played Mikel Obi as defensive midfielder and not number 10

Mikel Obi excelled as a youth player for Nigeria as a number 10 but was pushed back to play in defensive midfield by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, and the boss has now explained why.

Mikel won the silver ball behind Lionel Messi at the U20 World Cup in Holland in 2005, after which he secured a move to Chelsea and everything changed for him.

He spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge and perfected the role of a defensive midfielder under eight managers, but more is needed to tell fans why he was moved to the position.

Mourinho explains why Mikel played DM

The Special One has demystified Mikel as a DM on the Obi One Podcast, explaining the qualities he saw in the former Nigeria captain, which are similar to other players who starred in the position for him.

"In the national team, he can be what he wants, but not with me," Mourinho joked.

"If you go through my positional midfield players that I have throughout my career, there are a lot of similar things. I had them all tall, physical, with good occupation of space and the simplicity of football, which is fundamental in that position.

"The simplicity is genius; the team needs balance, and [defensive midfielders] have to give the team balance on and off the ball, have the discipline and humility to understand the team is more important than me and what I give the team is more important than what the team gives me."

Despite Mikel's continued role as a number 10 in the national team, his former boss highlighted the key qualities that made the former Lyn Oslo star succeed in a different role at the club.

"He was a fantastic positional midfield player - very quick thinking, one touch, two touches, make everything simple and the game flows. Everything was fast with him on and off the ball. He has a great understanding of the game, and I saw that the first time I saw him," he added.

Per Transfermarkt, the Nigerian legend played 119 times for the AS Roma manager, the most under any manager in his career, but ended his time with Chelsea under Antonio Conte.