'Mikel Is A Top Quality Player Who Can Handle The Ball' - Stoke Boss Gives Lowdown On Ex-Nigeria Captain

Stoke City boss Michael O'Neill faced the cameras on Thursday ahead of his side's opening Championship match of the 2020-2021 season at Millwall.

The Potters showed their intent to return to the Premier League by signing former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, and have also added Morgan Fox, Steven Fletcher, Jacob Brown and James Chester to their roster.

The former Nigeria international is in contention to make his competitive debut for Stoke City in two days time having gained valuable game time in pre-season matches against Shrewsbury Town, Leeds United and Newcastle United.

Giving the lowdown on his five summer recruits, O'Neill said on Mikel, according to StokeonTrentLive : "You’re always wary taking a player from abroad but with John it wasn’t like that because he’d been in the UK for so long. There was no worries about that scenario.

"What John has demonstrated - and his fitness levels are improving all the time, having not played since March - is that every day in training is a top quality player who can handle the ball and is able to tactically understand the game and help the players around him tactically. He’s been great since he came in."

Mikel has totaled 391 appearances combined for his previous English clubs Chelsea and Middlesbrough FC.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel