Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterSubscribe to our newsletterTwo hours before I played for Nigeria at the Under-17 World Championship in Finland in 2003, our jerseys arrived. We had been waiting for our names to be printed on the back when they came, we were all opening them up. I saw mine, and it said Mikel. I was like What?! Whats this? It was supposed to say Michael, which was my name. They said it was a mistake. I asked if they could change it, but they said: No, we dont have time, we have a game to go and play sorry, youll have to wear it. I wore it and had a great tournament, so I thought, OK, Ill keep it! And thats been my name ever since.I was 16 years old, and that Under-17s tournament was my showcase, my time to announce myself to the world. Because I had an amazing tournament, the whispers started. Everybody started to know about this wonderkid called Mikel all the agents and all the clubs started looking for me.One agent showed up inside our team hotel and was asking everyone: Where is this kid? The Nigerian FA had already told the security at the hotel: If anyone asks where he is, tell them that you dont know, dont tell them his room number. This agent had a briefcase full of cash sitting right next to him, about �50,000, saying: Listen, I think a big Dutch club want you to go there, so sign for them and sign for me. I was only 16, and all of these crazy things had already started happening.During that period, I was an attacking midfield player, a creative player, rather than the defensive midfielder I later became. Im not blowing my own trumpet, but I knew I was really good and that Id eventually sign for one of the big teams. Arsenal, Bayern Munich a lot of teams were after me.Very soon, I was invited to Manchester United. I met Sir Alex Ferguson, and stayed there and trained for a month or two. Id always train with the first team, never with the academy, which is what I should have been doing, but I was too good! I trained with Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Diego Forlan, Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand. Sometimes, I just watched them and the way they trained just unbelievable. Paul Scholes would ping the ball right, left and centre he was absolute quality. I could have watched him all day. What a player. When I trained with them, Sir Alex would always put me in the same team as Roy Keane, so I had somebody to protect me! As you know, Paul Scholes was the worst tackler; hed come in and Boom!. Then Keano would go in and give him one to protect me! It was fun. I enjoyed my time there. You may like "Sir Alex Ferguson crossed a line, and therein lies the difference between me and him, thats how he won 13 league titles and I won none" Kevin Keegan on Newcastle United's 1995/96 Premier League challenge 30 years on from the 'Love it' rant Exclusive: Diego Forlan discusses the role Sir Alex Ferguson's brother played in his Manchester United transfer I sat down with Frank Lampard and said his philosophy wouldnt work to win anything: the way Id play in your system wont be good for you! David Luiz on his frank discussion at Chelsea What happened next is a long story. Back then, you had to be 18 to sign from Africa. I was 16, so Manchester United thought, OK, we will send you home for two or three months, then you can come back and train with the team for another two months. They would do that until they found a proper solution. They sent me back to Nigeria, but then when I was at home, Chelsea found out where I was. They sent an agent, who came with a contract and convinced me to go there instead. Roman Abramovich had bought the club I thought about it and was like OK, a new history is about to be made at Chelsea, so I went for trials there. Straight away, Claudio Ranieri wanted me to sign, but again, I couldnt because I wasnt 18.Instead of sending me back home, though, like Manchester United did, Chelsea arranged for me to go to Norway for a while and play for Lyn Oslo. I had an apartment there and Chelsea were looking after me, my family and my friends.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.I had three Nigerian team-mates with me Chelsea sent them to Lyn with me to keep me company, so that I wasnt homesick. They stayed in the same apartment as me. I think they knew what the situation was, which wasnt good. They were really good players, but they quickly understood that Chelsea werent going to sign all of them maybe theyd sign a couple and send them on loan.They werent going to play for Chelsea, though I was the guy they wanted. Chelsea wanted them to keep me company they were guys Id played with in Nigerias under 20s, we grew up together. Im still friends with them, too. Chinedu Obasi played in Germany after that, but the other two, Emmanuel Sarki and Ezekiel Bala, didnt really make it.When I turned 18, I played a game for Lyn, Manchester United heard about it and sent their representative to Norway. They met me with a pre-contract, for about �1.5m or something. They came, bamboozled me into a room with the managers of Lyn, with none of my agents there, no representative, no phone call to any of my family, nothing. It was just me, a kid, sitting there and signing a contract. Looking back, that wasnt right. There should be advice from somebody; its unusual for it to happen like that. What to read next "No, it's not my wish to become president of Liberia" George Weah's mid 90s stance on politics, playing alongside Roberto Baggio and under Arsene Wenger revisited After his red card vs Argentina in 1998 David Beckham was the most hated man in England, but went on to have the greatest season of his life Dougie Freedman was blocking my transfers, so I texted him that he wasn't my manager Id be playing for myself. Within two days I was at West Ham" Michail Antonio on dark arts that got him his Premier League move Everything was done on the same day, in about an hour, or an hour and a half. As soon as I signed the contract, a whole press conference had already been arranged to announce that Id joined Manchester United.When wed finished training that day, Id told my three Nigerian team-mates, the ones Chelsea had sent there to be with me: You guys can go home without me. I didnt tell them what was happening. They were sitting at home, waiting for me to get home, then they turned on the TV and saw me in this press conference with a Manchester United shirt on! They tried to call me, but my phone wasnt there; it had already been taken away from me. In some of the pictures, you can see from my face what I was thinking while I was wearing that Manchester United shirt in the press conference. I was sitting there thinking to myself, What have you done?Straight away, I knew exactly what Id done I had made a massive mistake, although I didnt know it was going to be as huge as it was and that it was going to take almost two years to get sorted. When Chelsea saw exactly what had happened, they were furious. Theyd sent me to Norway, they were looking after me, they said: No, were not letting you go. They also sent their agent to Oslo, and it became a war.I was taken to a hotel by Lyn and the people from Manchester United, so that nobody knew where I was, and so that Chelsea wouldnt find out. But Chelsea and my agent found out where I was in secret, my agent came and smuggled me on to the next flight in the morning. We went to London and Chelsea put me up in a nice apartment close to the stadium. I ended up staying there for about a year, as FIFA tried to get my situation resolved. They couldnt. The English FA got involved, too.It was very flattering that both clubs wanted me knowing that two of the biggest clubs in the world were fighting over me only elevated my stature as a player. But by that point, I wanted to play football and it became frustrating. Every day I woke up and stared at the ceiling. I wasnt able to go anywhere, I couldnt even train, I couldnt play for anybody, FIFA said I couldnt go near any football club. Nobody was allowed to see me from any club; I was alone. It was a horrible situation your parents calling you, and other family members, crying down the phone. They wanted to see me play, and I was crying every day because I wanted to play football; its what I loved doing. In a way, I missed one or two years of my career sitting there, but it was from my own stupid mistake by signing that contract with Manchester United in Norway. I knew Id made a mistake.Jose Mourinho was the Chelsea boss by then, and during that time, I met him, even though I wasnt allowed to. There were a lot of clandestine moves that happened so I could meet him I was taken in a car, which drove me about two or three kilometres and dropped me off, then another car picked me up, took me another two or three kilometres and so on, until I got to the secret location where I met Mourinho. We had a great conversation over lunch and he told me how much he really wanted me to join the club. I knew I had to play for Chelsea.Roman Abramovich was like, Theres no way Im letting this kid go, I want him at the club, and they fought tooth and nail to make sure I joined Chelsea, but Manchester United were still not letting go. Eventually, when things still werent resolved, Sir Alex Ferguson said: OK, Ill have a meeting with the kid give me 20 or 30 minutes with him and Ill get it sorted. It was just him and me in a room. My agent was outside, and before I went in, he told me: Look, hes going to try, and this meeting determines what happens, so if you come out of there and youve said yes to him, thats a yes but whatever he says, just nod your head and say no. Thats exactly what I did.I was sitting at the end of this long table, like the tables they had during COVID for social distancing. Sir Alex was saying to me: Listen, what is it that Chelsea are offering you? Is it the money? Tell me, I will give you more. Everyone at the club wants you, Roy Keane, Scholesy, theyre all asking after you, because they need you, we need you at the club, Im going to make you the best player.Id listened to what my agent had told me beforehand, and I didnt say much. I just said: No, boss. Im sorry, I just want to go to Chelsea. It was difficult to say no to the greatest manager of all time, to sit there and say no to his face. Only a few players have ever said no to Alex Ferguson. I think Luis Figo might have been another one. But I wanted to go to Chelsea. Manchester United had won everything already. I wanted to go somewhere that I could create history.I could see Fergie getting redder and redder I thought Im going to get a hairdryer from him. But there was no hairdryer. After 30 or 40 minutes, he realised he couldnt convince me and got up, took his briefcase and left. About a week later, Manchester United got in touch with Chelsea to say: OK, we understand the kid has made his point clear, he doesnt want to come to United any more, but you have to pay. It was something like �12m to Manchester United and �4m to Lyn.In 2006, I made my debut for Chelsea. It was amazing, it was huge for me, although things didnt pan out the way I wanted at first. On my first Premier League start at Reading, I got sent off for two stupid yellow cards. Back then, I was young and naive. I made mistakes, Id be late for meetings. I had to learn. Mourinho had to put me in my place very quickly, with lots of punishments, lots of fines. He sent me to the academy for a couple of weeks or a month, then brought me back when I was ready to know I was in the big boys league. This was Chelsea Football Club, I wasnt in Nigeria or at Lyn Oslo any more. I had to learn the culture of the football club the likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba and Mourinho would let you know exactly where you were.At the end of that season, I played in the very first FA Cup final at the new Wembley. Against Manchester United.I had an amazing game. I went up against people like Paul Scholes and absolutely bossed the game. That day was special, because I played a part in the winning goal I flicked it to Didier Drogba, he flicked it to Frank Lampard, Lamps gave it back and then Didier did what he did best, which was to score in the big games and win us trophies.I wouldnt say I rubbed it in Fergies face that day, but it was nice to get one over him! I could see it in his face, looking at me, thinking, How did I let him go?A year later, though, Manchester United defeated us in the Champions League final in Moscow. I was on the bench and I was so disappointed that I didnt start or even come on. I was sitting there thinking, Oh my god, that would have been my first Champions League trophy. If Id gone to Manchester United, I would have been a Champions League winner right now. I felt that if Id played in that game, the outcome might have been a bit different.But I used that disappointment to fuel me when we reached the final again in 2012, against Bayern Munich. During those years, I never gave up. As a team, we never gave up; we knew we could still win the Champions League. When we got to the final in 2012, that was the last chance for the likes of JT, Lamps, Petr Cech and Drogba. They were all going to leave the club soon, so it was our last chance to give them, and give Roman Abramovich, that trophy. It had become an obsession for us.I remember the team meeting the night before that final. All of the players received a video from a family member with words of encouragement. Great credit to the club that they did that to have gone around the world, looked for our family members and got them to record a video. It was just so special. Roberto Di Matteo did an amazing job. We came out of that meeting thinking, There is no way were losing tomorrow. That game was the biggest stage of my life I thought I dont know when Ill be playing in a Champions League final again. It was my best game inChelsea colours I had an amazing game. Up until Didier Drogba scored our equaliser, then later scored the winning penalty, I think I was going to win our man of the match. It was down to how much I wanted it, how much we all wanted it. We were the first London team to win the Champions League. In the end, I played 372 games for Chelsea, and my relationship with the fans is still special. I wasnt the guy who set the world on fire in terms of creating chances and scoring goals because of the way my position was played back then. In those days, a holding midfielder didnt go anywhere he was always there, making sure he protected the back four. We couldnt run past the halfway line Mourinho would be on the touchline, saying: Where are you going?! Now you see Rodri and Ryan Gravenberch bombing forward Rodri winning the Ballon dOr showed how the position has evolved.Last year, I bumped into Sir Alex at the Champions League final and we had a nice chat. I said hello to him and he said: Oh, there he is, the one that got away! He remembered everything, but said: Im not upset with you any more, its in the past. I asked: Have you forgiven me, boss? He said yes, even though we know Fergie never forgives! I wanted to go to Chelsea to be part of history, and I was. We built our own dynasty, our own history. Back when I was a teenager, I had to make a decision between two huge clubs and it wasnt an easy one. I chose Chelsea. I dont have any regrets about it at all.Mikel was speaking to FFT in association with streaming platform DAZNTOPICSChelseaManchester UnitedPremier LeagueChris FlanaganSocial Links NavigationSenior Staff WriterChris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
