Obi Returns For Inter

Nigeria international midfielder Joel Obi returned to action for his Italian club Inter Milan after being named in the club’s preliminary 24-man squad billed to play against Pescara at the weekend.

The 21-year-old midfielder has been plagued by injury which resulted in his being shut-out of Nigeria’s Nation’s Cup preliminary squad.

Obi had earlier made a goal scoring return to action in October last year in Inter Milan’s Europa Cup game against Azerbaijani champions Neftci PFK, but got injured again in his subsequent Serie A game against Catania on october 21.

Inter Milan’s manager Andrea Stramaccioni has expressed delight at the return of Joel Obi and other recovering players, stating that he was close to fielding a full strength team soon.

“I think and hope that we’re close to having some players back, ready to play and fully recovered,” he said.

“We will have (Gabriel) Mudingayi, (Philippe) Coutinho and (Joel) Obi tomorrow Saturday. Obviously none of them are ready to play a match from the first minute, but they’ve trained with the rest of the group this week and they’re back with the team.

“It’s very important to have them back fully recovered.” he said.