John Mikel Obi has opened up on the sensational wrangle between Manchester United and Chelsea, which saw him sign deals with both clubs before giving in to Roman Abramovich and saying ‘no’ to Sir Alex Ferguson, twice.
Mikel’s eventual move to the Premier League as one of the hottest prospects in world football was marred with controversy, with the outcome seeing Chelsea pay £4 million to his parent club and a further £12 million to United in compensation.
United offered him a staggering £1.5 million contract even though he had only just left school, but Chelsea’s involvement was soon to signal tides of change.
New Chelsea owner Abramovich, desperate to build his side into a European super power with the world’s finest talent, had other ideas and soon showed his determination to land a target.
A secret meeting was quickly arranged with Jose Mourinho, despite the allegiance that had already been pledged to fierce title rivals United.
“Roman Abramovich organised six cars to get me there. It was like a military operation,” Mikel said during an interview with the Sun.
“I started in one car, then the drivers would talk to each other and suddenly I was dropped off and then picked up by another car.
“Once there, Jose told me: ‘The boss really wants you. I’ll play you and make you what you want to be.’ That really helped as there were times when I thought: ‘Have I made the right decision?’”
In the intermittent period, an anonymous agent representing a different club entirely had offered the youngster a briefcase containing $70,000 (£53,000) to sign for a club, though the advances were knocked back.
Mikel noted how the anger in Ferguson was apparent, before he went on to outline how no player should turn down Manchester United.
“I had Barca waiting to pounce if the legal wrangle couldn’t be sorted, but felt obliged to sign for Chelsea as they’d looked after me,” Mikel added.
Mikel left Chelsea a fan favourite, having won the Champions League and Europa League, two Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups.