Chelsea and Nigeria legend John Obi Mikel has revealed why he thinks players from the Premier Soccer League are not as prevalent in Europe as Nigerian footballers are.
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The recently retired midfielder returned to the scene where he led Nigeria to their last Africa Cup of Nations title, Johannesburg, South Africa, earlier this week.
However, instead of the continental cup, the Jos native returned with a different trophy: the UEFA Europa League cup.
That trophy has made its way to Africa for the first time courtesy of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and while the 2012/13 Europa League winner was here to discuss one of the many pieces of silverware he managed to capture in his career, the former Super Eagle also gave his thoughts on the South African top flight too.
The 89-cap Nigeria international spent four months at Ajax Cape Town before completing his initial move to Europe, and when he was asked if a certain mentality was the reason why more Nigerian players are prevalent at those levels, Mikel told the members of the media at the trophy tour event: "I think it's not the mentality. I think it's your organisation. Your organisation is better than ours.
"If you look at your league, it is that good that a player doesn't have to go abroad to make ends meet. Your league is way more organised than our league.
"So, that's something that we Nigerians have been crying about. We want to see our league better; we know we can do that.
"Because we have so much talent, we want to grow our league. We want to improve the standard of our league, and the facilities for these players to grow.
"These children want to be inspired to play in the English Premier League.
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"You have to create an environment where they feel comfortable to improve, and that's something you guys have and I think that's pretty much the difference."
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