The four factors that convinced Jordan Obita to pick Hibs over rival offers

New Hibs signing Jordan Obita has revealed there were four key factors that helped his decision-making in choosing to move to Easter Road following the end of his Wycombe Wanderers contract.

The 29-year-old signed on a two-year deal last month, linking up with former Reading colleagues Adam Le Fondre and Brian McDermott, as well as one-time manager Lee Johnson. Speaking to Hibs TV, Obita explained why he had opted for Hibs over a string of other interested clubs.

"Firstly the league, there are a lot of quality teams up here; playing in Europe as well, and the chance to test myself in another country,” he explained. “I’ve been quite lucky in my career so far, I haven’t had to move around much so when I had the opportunity to come here I thought, ‘why not come up and test myself against some quality players?’”

His versatility was one of the contributory factors to Hibs making a move for him and he filled two positions against Edinburgh City, starting off at left-back before finishing the game in a more advanced position. The former England youth internationalist set up Hibs’ second goal, collecting a through-ball from Joe Newell before cutting it back to Ewan Henderson, whose shot was diverted into the net by Christian Doidge.

Jordan Obita in action for Hibs during the pre-season friendly win against Edinburgh City at Meadowbank. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS Group

"I probably prefer playing at left-wingback,” he admitted. “I like having the whole left side to myself to go and attack, and get the ball into the box, and try to get some goals and assists as well,” he continued.

The chance to work with Johnson and McDermott again also contributed to Obita’s decision to head north while he is anticipating linking up with Le Fondre again after a gap of nearly a decade.

"I played under the gaffer at Oldham; I was only there for a month, but I played under Brian on two occasions. They’re both really experienced managers and hopefully we can do well together. I think they both had me on their list which is always a good sign and I’m looking forward to working with them again. Hopefully we can have a good start to the season – I’m looking forward to the games against Celtic and Rangers, and the derbies against Hearts. It should be interesting and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”