1998 FIFA World Cup winner, Marcel Desailly, has admitted he was left in awe after training with Mikel Obi for the first time, Soccernet.ng reports.
Mikel had impressed for Nigeria at the FIFA U-17 World Cup and was on the books of several clubs including Manchester United and Chelsea.
He went on trial at both clubs, and his talent kept Desailly on his toes. Speaking on punditry duties with BeIN Sports, the Frenchman revealed Mikel was the only youngster in England who left him stunned.
“It’s the truth, he was 16-years-old when he came. I think he was on trials for about three weeks. In the first week, it was magic. He was technically gifted and during the training sessions, we saw him at train at top level and we even questioned if he was on drugs. We decided to wait for the second week and he was still the same. He was capable of playing, handling the ball, and handling 1v1 positions, and we knew he’d raise our standards at the club. He was the only youngster that gave us this kind of impression,” the two-time UEFA Champions League winner said.
Mikel, in response to Desailly’s praise, mentioned he was thrilled with the opportunity he had to impress players of such stature in the game.
“Obviously, he was the captain and he looked out for me. I was just a kid from Nigeria and he made sure I settled in nicely. I had the pleasure of training with them for three weeks to show what I had to do and I was lucky to impress players like Marcel, John Terry and the likes,” the former Super Eagles captain commented.
Mikel eventually joined Chelsea in the summer of 2006 and went on to play almost 400 games for the Blues, scoring six goals and providing thirteen assists. He also won the English Premier League title twice, the UEFA Champions League once and the Emirates FA Cup four times during his stay at Stamford Bridge.