Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel has revealed what happened in his meeting with a furious Sir Alex Ferguson after his move to Manchester United failed to materialise.
Mikel played for Norwegian side Lyn at the beginning of his senior career and the ex-Chelsea man was expected to sign for United before the transfer collapsed.
According to reports at the time, a pre-contract agreement was reached in April 2005 and Mikel was expected to arrive at Old Trafford in January 2006.
It was believed that United agreed a deal with Lyn worth £4m for Mikel, with the ex-defensive midfielder even famously wearing a Red Devils shirt at a press conference.
However, the transfer saga involving Mikel would culminate with him snubbing United and instead signing for Premier League side Chelsea.
Chelsea had to splash out a £12m fee to United and £4m to Lynn to land the 36-year-old Nigerian, who claimed he was pressured into signing the contract at United.
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Mikel meeting Ferguson over United move
Speaking to talkSPORT, Mikel opened up on his exchange with Ferguson amid the transfer saga and how the United legend turned “red” during their meeting.
The former Nigeria international claimed that his agent at the time told him that Ferguson would try and “brainwash” him into signing for United.
“I did have a meeting with Fergie at the FA office in London because the FA also wanted to get involved and was like, ‘We need to get this player playing, he’s a young player, he needs to play football,’” Mikel said.
“It was just me and him in a room, yeah, that was feisty that. I had my agent sitting outside and he was like, ‘When you go into this meeting, because he’s going to try to brainwash, everything he says, just make sure you say no.’
“So I went into that office, into that meeting, so everything he was saying I was like, ‘Ah, I’m sorry, Boss, I can’t play for United, it was a mistake, I didn’t mean to sign.’ It was a long table, he was sitting right over there and I was sitting at the edge of the table.
“He was sitting at the other edge, I could see him go red, he was like, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to play for United, the biggest club in the world?’ He’s like, ‘What is it you want, do you want more money? What is it you want? I’ll give it to you.’
‘I was like, ‘Sorry, Boss, I can’t play for United, I want to go to Chelsea.’ So, we had about 20 or 30 minutes in the room and he walked off and then that was it.
“He walked away, and then the next couple of weeks he was like, ‘OK, well, I’m not going to let him go for free,’ so [Chelsea paid] £14million to United and £4m to Lyn.”
Mikel snubbed United for Chelsea
While it was a shame that Ferguson didn’t land Mikel for United, it’s not surprising why the former Lyn man was held in such esteem when he was a youngster.
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ensured the Blues acquired Mikel’s signature ahead of United and it paid off big time for the London club.
Mikel lifted two Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Europa League, four FA Cups and two League Cups during his prolific spell at Chelsea.
The former United target went on to play for Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, Middlesbrough, Trabzonspor and Stoke City after his run at Chelsea came to an end.
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