Midfielder Joel Obi has justified why he opted out of the African Youth Championship, preferring to stay behind in Italy and fight for place in Inter Milan.

Obi is struggling with the Inter big boys for a starting shirt and he is determined to prove himself to coach Leonardo with a view of establishing himself in the Serie A.

“Every player wants to be in the first team. That is why I’m working hard to at Inter,” revealed the player co-signed by Inter and Parma. He could be heading to Parma at the end of the season.

And rightly so Obi’s work ethics has been noticed by an Inter analyst. He wrote in his blog posted on Inter website admonishing Leonardo to give the young player more time.

“Obi doesn’t get a lot of time, but it’s become obvious that maybe he should. It’s evident that he doesn’t have a lot of people’s trust, watch to see how many look up and pass to him. But he hustles and comes back to defend – not a bad trait for a mostly attacking type player. Also, I thought that he passed the ball pretty well.”

Obi made his debut for Inter in September 2010 during a champions league match against Werde Brema. So far he ha made 12 appearances for Inter the last being last weekend game against Lazio.