John Obi Mikel has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson, the great football coach, has now forgiven him for rejecting Manchester United to join Chelsea.
The former Nigerian international joined the Red Devils in 2005 and was even observed wearing the club shirt during a press conference.
In an unexpected twist, Mikel joined Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge in 2006, although Chelsea had to pay a £12 million settlement to their rivals for the transfer to be finalised.
Mikel previously alleged that he’s*** himself’ when he saw Ferguson after the U-turn, and that the Scottish manager gave him a death stare.
But Mikel and Ferguson, 82, were spotted together at the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, and the former Chelsea player said that Ferguson had finally forgiven him.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the 37-year-old said: “It’s so good for the boss to finally forgive me after such a long time.
“He mentioned (the saga) a couple of times (during his career) it was like, ‘You were the one that got away aren’t you?’
“But he’s a lovely, lovely man and 82 years old he’s still strong.
“I told him ‘We want to have you here as much as we can, for as long as we can’. And he’s like, ‘Listen, you got away but you had an amazing career with Chelsea so I wouldn’t say anything wrong about that, but I definitely forgive you now’.”
Mikel also confirmed to talkSPORT that he signed a pre-contract with Manchester United before turning 18.
United persuaded Mikel to accept a four-year contract, bypassing his agents, and the midfielder was expected to join at Old Trafford in January 2006.
Mikel added: “Then when they (Chelsea) saw the whole news on the TV, ‘Oh, what’s happening here? Well, Mikel has signed for United, a pre-contract.’ Of course, they had to send the agents, everybody down to Oslo to find out what’s happened.
“They came down and that’s when I was taken away from the club, I was sort of taken away somewhere hidden for like a couple of hours and nobody knew where I was. Then finally I got flown out to London by Chelsea and locked away somewhere, so it went on for about a year, trying to sort it out.”
Mikel missed a year of playing as the matter was handled before joining Chelsea in 2006.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli