John Obi Mikel reveals what REALLY happened when he rejected Man United for Chelsea

John Obi Mikel has lifted the lid on why he 

chose Chelsea over Manchester United 12 

years ago.

Sir Alex Ferguson 

thought he had won 

the race for the

 talented Nigerian's

 signature in 2006, 

and he was even pictured in a United shirt, 

only for him to join Jose Mourinho at 

Stamford Bridge instead.

And the 31-year-old has revealed that he

 made the move to the Blues in order to 

help some of his countrymen find a club.

Speaking to the Players' Tribune, he wrote:

 'I know what you’re thinking.

'So before I tell you my story, let’s just get

 that bit out of the way first. It’s been more 

than a decade and I still get asked this 

one thing about my time in England.

'"Hey, what happened to you signing for 

Manchester United? How come 

 you swapped for Chelsea at the last 

minute?" Every time.

'I’ll tell you what happened. I had all these 

people on both sides fighting over me. 

Agents, managers, strangers, guys

 handing me papers. I had Sir Alex 

Ferguson calling me on the phone on one 

side.

'And I had Roman Abramovich on the

other side, putting me up in London, 

hiding me somewhere where only a few 

people knew where I was. It was really 

confusing, and I was a kid, you know?

'After a while, someone from FIFA gave 

me a phone call. They said, “Listen, we

know you’re young and you have these two

clubs fighting over you. We can’t decide 

for you. You can only go where you want. 

You have to tell us.

'I thought about it for a long time. It was

 the biggest decision of my life.

'You know what made my mind up? 

Chelsea had signed three other players

 from Nigeria along with me. They were 

staying with me at the house in London to 

keep me company.

'These guys… their lives depended on the 

decision I was making. If I went to United, 

they were gone. If I went to Chelsea, they 

were going to have a career.

'No matter how long it lasted, that was 

important to me. Just to give them a 

chance, you know?

'I chose Chelsea, and four lives changed 

that day.'

Mikel signed for United from Lyn Oslo in 

April 2005, but the move was never 

finalised after he claimed that he had

been 'bullied' into the deal and wished to 

join Chelsea instead.

Chelsea agreed to pay a £12m 

compensation package to United to allow 

the move to go through.

Mikel spent over 10 years at Stamford 

Bridge before leaving in January 2017. He 

lifted two Premier League titles, three FA 

Cups and the Champions League in 2012.