When John Obi Mikel decided to ditch Manchester United in favour of Chelsea, he could not know the impact it would have.
The Nigerian midfielder was famously at the centre of a tug-of-war between United and Chelsea in 2006 – one that would cost millions.
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The Red Devils claimed on their website that they had struck an agreement for Mikel days after he turned 18.
However, Chelsea also insisted that they had also reached a similar settlement but that would not stop the teenager posing with a United shirt.
The most bizarre was yet to come after he went missing days after when he was set to play for Norwegian club Lyn, sparking national media coverage in Norway that Mikel had been kidnapped.
In 2021, Mikel said: “Look, I wasn’t really kidnapped. I was just staying away from the public eye making sure no one knew where I was.
“But there was a public announcement in Norway that, if anyone saw me, they should report it to the police, so we had to go and hide.
“Obviously, [Manchester] United were trying to get hold of me. So were Lyn. There were some tough times. It was like a movie.”
Ultimately, Mikel ended up at Chelsea despite Sir Alex Ferguson accusing the Blues of acting “disgusting” throughout the saga.
“My Dad wasn’t too pleased about what happened either,” Mikel wrote in theplayerstribune in 2018.
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“He wanted me to go to Manchester United because he loved Alex Ferguson.
“Back home in Nigeria, a lot of people were saying I should go to United because of how well they work with young players, whereas Chelsea just bought superstars.”
Not every 18-year-old can say that they were wanted by Ferguson and Abramovich – two of the most powerful people in football in recent history.
But for Mikel, his decision rested on the shoulders of others as he turned down Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge, despite somewhat confusingly signing for both clubs.
“I had Sir Alex Ferguson calling me on the phone on one side. And I had [former Chelsea owner] 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?
“FIFA 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.’
“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.
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“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.”
He would go on to become a Chelsea legend, playing 372 times for them over 11 years.
Mikel was a lynchpin in the club’s most successful era, holding the fort in midfield as Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Ramires to parade further forward.
He would win two Premier League titles, one Champions League trophy, four FA Cups and two League Cups, as well as the Europa League in 2013.
The transfer would cost then-owner Roman Abramovich plenty more than the £4million United claimed they had paid for him, though.
In total, the Blues forked out £16m – £4m to Lyn and £12m to United – but Mikel was happy with his choice despite defying his father.
And that was down to the fact he changed some of his fellow footballers’ lives forever.
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