By Monsurah Olatunji
Former Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi has heaped praise on Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood for his standout performances during the 2024/25 season.
Obi’s endorsement of Wood comes amid a fierce competition for a starting role between the New Zealand international and his countryman, Taiwo Awoniyi, in Forest’s lineup under manager Espirito Santo.
Although Awoniyi has featured in most of Forest’s matches this season, making 15 appearances, he has spent much of that time coming off the bench. In contrast, Wood has enjoyed a more prominent role in the starting XI, delivering solid performances.
In their recent 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Forest moved level on 40 points with Arsenal, who are second in the Premier League. Wood scored the second goal of the game, following Morgan Gibbs-White’s opener, while Awoniyi sealed the victory with his first goal of the season.
However, while discussing Forest’s recent performances on his ObiOne Podcast, Mikel focused his praise on Wood, choosing to highlight his composed finish against Everton as a prime example of the striker’s form and self-assurance. Nottingham Forest defeated Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park, with Wood opening the scoring and also assisting Gibbs-White.
Mikel praised Wood’s confidence in front of goal: “I saw the goal he scored against Everton; it just shows you a player who is playing with so much confidence,” Mikel said.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
