Background and career
Mikel John Obi ( ; born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna; 22 April 1987), also known as John Obi Mikel, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Mikel began his career with local club Plateau United, before joining Norwegian club Lyn at the age of 17 in 2004. In 2006, he made a controversial transfer to English club Chelsea after Manchester United claimed they had already signed him. He stayed with Chelsea for 11 years where he won multiple titles, including two Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and the 2011–12 Champions League. After leaving Chelsea, he had brief stints at Tianjin TEDA, Middlesbrough, Trabzonspor, Stoke City and Kuwait SC. In a 14-year international career between 2005 and 2019, he played 91 times for Nigeria, scoring six goals. He went to five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments (winning in 2013), two World Cups, and won a bronze medal at the Olympics in 2016.
Mikel was born in Jos, Plateau State. He is the son of Michael Obi, who runs an inter-state transport company in Jos. His father was a member of the Igbo ethnic group.
Mikel started his football career at the age of 12, when picked as a talented footballer from over 3,000 young talents to play in Pepsi Football Academy, a team that at the time was well known for travelling across Nigeria scouting young footballers with the potential to play professionally. Obi stood out to scouts and was later picked to play for top-flight club Plateau United, a side that had previously developed stars such as Celestine Babayaro, Victor Obinna and Chris Obodo, among others, that went on to success in European Leagues. Later known as John Obi Mikel, he made headlines for his country at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships held in Finland. Following the tournament, he went on to a trial at South Africa club Ajax Cape Town, ultimately joining Oslo-based club Lyn Fotball in Norway.
On 29 April 2005, a few days after Mikel turned 18, Premier League club Manchester United announced that they had struck a deal with Lyn to sign him. United's website also claimed that they had done a deal directly with the teenager and that he had signed a contract to join them. Mikel's agents were bypassed as the club persuaded him to sign a four-year contract without representation. Lyn allegedly sent a fax to his agents abroad, claiming their services were no longer required by Mikel. Reports said the deal was initially worth £4 million, and would see Mikel arrive at Old Trafford in January 2006. Chelsea, Manchester United's Premier League rival, later issued a counter-claim suggesting that they already had an agreement with Mikel and his agents, but Lyn denied this claim. Subsequent reports indicated that Chelsea claimed to have been involved in arranging the player's original move to Europe with a view to signing him at a later date. Further substance was added to this claim after it was revealed that the player had impressed Chelsea manager José Mourinho while training with the club's first-team squad during the summer of 2004. Mikel expressed his delight at joining Manchester United in a hastily arranged press conference, where he was pictured holding up a United shirt bearing the squad number 21. Following his signing of the contract to join United, there were claims from Norway that he had received threatening phone calls from unknown sources. Mikel was assigned a security guard and moved to a safe hotel. On 11 May 2005 he went missing during a Norwegian Cup game against Klemetsrud; he had not been selected for the match but had been watching from the stands. Whilst he was believed to have left with one of his agents, John Shittu, who had by now flown in to meet Mikel, his disappearance sparked massive media coverage in Norway and also provoked a police enquiry after Lyn director Morgan Andersen made claims in the Norwegian media that Mikel had been "kidnapped". These claims were later repeated by Manchester United's assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, who accused Chelsea of being involved in the alleged "kidnapping". It subsequently emerged that Mikel had travelled to London with Shittu, who was working for Jerome Anderson's SEM group. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson considered travelling to Oslo to visit Mikel, but decided against this after Mikel was reported to have left the country. Staying in a London hotel and some nine days after disappearing, Mikel stated on Sky Sports News that he had been pressured into signing the contract with United without his agent present, claims rebuffed by both Manchester United and Lyn. Mikel told the British media that Chelsea were the club he genuinely wanted to sign for. In response to these events, United made a complaint to FIFA about the behaviour of both Chelsea and the player's agents, Shittu and Rune Hauge, already infamous for his role in the George Graham bungs scandal. FIFA dismissed these claims in August 2005, stating there was insufficient evidence to bring a case against Chelsea. Following the tournament, Mikel failed to return to Lyn, and the club subsequently lodged a complaint with FIFA. On 12 August, FIFA ruled that Mikel should return to Lyn to fulfil the remainder of his contract with the club, whilst they would decide at a later date whether the contract he signed with United should be upheld or cancelled. After a delay of over a month, Mikel complied with the FIFA decision and returned to Lyn in early September 2005 after a three-month absence.
Rather than leaving FIFA to determine the validity of the contract signed with Manchester United, Chelsea intervened by volunteering to settle the transfer saga through negotiation with Lyn and Manchester United. On 2 June 2006, the three clubs reached a settlement. Mikel's registration was to be transferred from Lyn to Chelsea, and Manchester United agreed to terminate their option agreement with him. Under the terms of the agreement, Chelsea agreed to pay United £12 million, half paid upon the finalisation of the contract and the other half in June 2007, and Lyn £4 million, half payable immediately and half in June 2007. As a result of this settlement, all claims in the matter were withdrawn. On 19 July, Chelsea were granted a work permit for Mikel after they completed the £16 million signing in June 2006. In the aftermath of the transfer, Lyn director Morgan Andersen, who had a previous conviction for forging official documents, was convicted of fraud and making false accusations; he was given a one-year suspended jail sentence by an Oslo court. The court also ordered him to pay 20,000 kroner (£1,944) in costs. Chelsea made a High Court claim for £16 million against Lyn and Andersen following the conviction, claiming that the previously agreed settlement was not binding as "the transfer was based on a fraudulent misrepresentation, now proven by a court of law." This claim was subsequently resolved out of court.
On 12 September 2006, Mikel made his first start for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League against Bulgarian club Levski Sofia and took a powerful shot which the goalkeeper failed to save and Didier Drogba pounced on the rebound. Mikel received many positive comments for his performance in the match. However, since being sent off in a match against Reading on 14 October 2006, Mikel was fined on three separate occasions by Chelsea for turning up late to training. At the time, Chelsea manager José Mourinho was believed to have strong reservations about his lifestyle outside of Stamford Bridge, and the club were reportedly considering offloading the player. Mikel was dropped for over a month, during which his father Michael voiced his concerns over his son's behaviour. After improved punctuality and showings at training sessions, Mikel earned a recall for Chelsea's Champions League group stage away game against Werder Bremen on 23 November 2006. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in their 6–1 FA Cup victory over Macclesfield Town on 6 January 2007. He also scored against Nottingham Forest in the following round of the competition. During Chelsea's triumph in the League Cup final in 2007, Mikel was sent off in injury time (having come on as a substitute) after clashing with Kolo Touré. The incident was followed by a huge fracas, in which Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal were sent off, Cesc Fàbregas and Frank Lampard were booked and Mourinho and Arsène Wenger were involved in an altercation on the pitch. In subsequent games, Mourinho deployed Mikel as a starter in a holding role in key games where he impressed greatly, notably in the Chelsea–Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup sixth round replay, the Champions League quarter-final games against Valencia, the Champions League semi-final games against Liverpool and also the victorious 2007 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. Mikel's height and great strength, allied to good ball control and an unusually wide range of passing, allows him not only to disrupt opposing attacks, but also to spread the play effectively. Mikel supplanted the French midfielder Claude Makélélé in the lineup following his departure to Paris Saint-Germain.
