“I have no regrets” – John Obi Mikel explains failed move to Manchester United in 2006

John Obi Mikel has revealed his thoughts on the move to Manchester United that never happened and saw him swap the red of United for the blue of Chelsea. 

In 2005, John Obi Mikel was one of the most promising talents in the golden age of African football. 

The Nigerian, who was 18 then, was applying his trade at Lyn. Still, his performances at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships in Finland caught the interest of some of the biggest clubs in European football: Manchester United and Chelsea, to be exact.

The two aforementioned clubs went into a transfer battle for Mikel in the spring of 2005, with Manchester United announcing that they had struck a deal with Lyn to bring the player to Old Trafford.

But, Chelsea quickly countered any transfer and claimed they had an initial agreement with Mikel and his agents. 

Talking about the transfer saga on radio station Dubai Eye 103.8, Mikel said: “I had my trials [before I went to Chelsea] with Manchester United, and [Sir Alex] Ferguson loved me, and all the players loved me.”

“Roy Keane was my biggest fan. He said, “Gaffer, you need to sign this, kid.”

The dependable advice from Keane was met with explicit agreement from Sir Alex, to the point where Ferguson even travelled to Norway to wrap a deal for Mikel. 

“Ferguson flew to Norway with a contract and said, ‘sign this pre-contract; you have to sign it!'”

He added, “I could never say no [to Ferguson].”

Chelsea was made aware of Mikel signing for United and intervened with multiple claims of agreement. Despite the reports in the Norwegian media of an alleged kidnapping at the time, those claims were nothing more than overblown, as Mikel’s lengthy absence was made known, and he returned to Lyn. 

In the summer of 2006, Manchester United, Chelsea and Lyn resolved the player’s future. Mikel would be transferred from Lyn to Chelsea; Manchester United agreed to terminate their option agreement with Mikel and received compensation from The Blues. They later signed Michael Carrick that same window.

Asked if Fergurson blanked him after the sage, Mikel continued, “Oh, he did!

“He never spoke to me since then; every time he saw me, he never said a word.”

Mikel stated numerous times during the podcast episode he had “no regret” in signing for Chelsea. 

The Nigerian won two Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, two League Cups, a UEFA Europa League and a UEFA Champions League.

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