Former Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi, has revealed he’d pick Chelsea over Manchester United again if he’s given the opportunity, Soccernet.ng reports.
Following a brilliant outing with the Golden Eaglets at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland, Mikel caught the eye of several clubs and ended up signing for Norwegian side, Lyn Fotball.
A few days after the 37-year-old turned 18, Manchester United announced they’d struck a deal with Lyn to sign Mikel, quickly arranging a press conference to unveil the one-time UEFA Champions League winner as the first-ever Nigerian to play for the prestigious club.
Chelsea, after seeing this move unfold, issued a counter-claim, claiming they had an agreement in place with Lyn and Mikel’s agents. The transfer plummetted into a fracas that saw Mikel stay out of football for almost a year, with FIFA ruling the deal in Chelsea’s favour. Mikel eventually signed for Chelsea a year after for £16m.
Mikel enjoyed immense success at Stamford Bridge, winning two English Premier League titles, alongside the prestigious UEFA Champions League in 2012, putting in a heck of a shift.
Speaking in hindsight, Mikel reflected on the opportunity he had to play under Sir Alex Ferguson, and how he has no regrets whatsoever to have stuck with Chelsea and Jose Mourinho.
“Should I play for the biggest manager in the world(Sir Alex Ferguson), the biggest club in the world (Manchester United) or a new vibrant manager at Chelsea? It wasn’t an easy decision because I had family members telling me to join Manchester United, to become the first Nigerian player to play for Manchester United, but I said, It’s my decision, I am going to live with it, and it has played out well,” the 2013 AFCON-winning midfielder said on the Obi One Podcast.
The Olympic bronze medallist was relieved to have ended up with Chelsea, and with how his career route went.
“It was a massive relief. Obviously, it was going on for almost a year, I couldn’t play for any club because of the whole saga. After that was settled, it was a massive relief for me and I joined the club that I really wanted to play for, which was Chelsea. And I just couldn’t wait to be unveiled as a Chelsea player, because it was taking such a long time to get settled. After that was done, you know, I was happy to be here. Amazing career. Had won everything to be won. And my memory here is absolutely fantastic. I will never, never trade it for anything,” Mikel concluded.
Mikel recently bashed foreign-born players who are eligible to play for Nigeria, but keep the Super Eagles as a second option.