Nigeria international Mikel Obi believes leading Middlesbrough to gain promotion to the English Premier League (EPL) would be one of his greatest achievements in his illustrious career.
Having tasted glory in the English domestic league, UEFA Champions League and African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Mikel told gazettelive.co.uk that he was still hungry for trophies.
“If we manage to pull it off, it would be amazing,” he said. “It would be up there as one of my greatest achievements.”
“I’m still hungry and want to win trophies,” he declared.
“I’m never satisfied with what I have achieved. If I was, I would just sit at home.
“I want to achieve something with this club and that is to get this club promoted.
“I love challenges and I knew to come in here would be a challenge for me, and being in the second division would be a challenge for me.
“I knew this club would be pushing for promotion and managing to do that wouldn’t be easy.”
Boro is in fifth place and are nine points adrift but have a game in hand on the top two and are in good form.
And Mikel is optimistic that the club has it within their grasp to regain the top flight place he believes they deserve.
“Middlesbrough is a massive club and should be in the Premier League,” he said. “It is where they belong for me.
“We still have a lot of games to play, and if we manage to win quite a few of them, who knows?
“If we could get automatic promotion, fine, and if we get into the playoffs and that is how we do it, then that would be amazing as well.
“We just have to keep pushing.”
Mikel signed a short term deal until the end of the season and isn’t looking beyond that.
He says he is happy on Teesside and enjoying his football and is open-minded about what happens after May.
“I want to enjoy my football and enjoy winning games with this club, these players are an amazing group of guys,” he said.
“Every time we win a game you get that feeling of wanting to be in the Premier League.
“That is something I want to keep enjoying with them until the end of the season. And then we see where we are.”
Signing the former Chelsea holding man came out of the blue in January and a lot of fans raised eyebrows.
The Central midfield was a department Boro was already well stocked in and the Nigerian had spent 18 months in the Chinese league, a lucrative but not very competitive arena.
