John Obi Mikel says Sir Alex Ferguson finally forgave him 18 years after turning down Manchester United to join Chelsea
Almost two decades later, John Obi Mikel has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson has forgiven him for his move to Chelsea.
Mikel initially signed for manchester united in 2005 and was even seen wearing the club's shirt at a press conference before the Blues attacked.
Chelsea He sent him to Norwegian club Lyn as they contemplated a future deal and acted quickly when their Premier League rivals announced the move.
Mikel previously told talkSPORT that he revealed to Ferguson that he I didn't want to sign for United in a 'fighting' match.
But 18 years later, the reunited couple at Wembley for the Champions League final and the former midfielder revealed that all is forgiven.
Speaking to Jason Cundy and Andy Townsend on Breakfast, he said: “It's really nice for the boss to finally forgive me after so long.
“He mentioned it (the saga) a couple of times (during his career), and it was like, 'You were the one that got away, right?' But he is a charming, charming man and, at 82, he is still going strong.
“I said to him: 'We want to keep you here as long as we can, for as long as possible.' I forgive you'”.
Mikel then added more information about one of football's most dramatic transfer sagas: “Well, I can't tell you the whole story because we'll be here all week!
“I signed for the club, obviously United came with the contract, I think Sir Alex sent a scout to help with the contract, like a pre-contract.
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“I wasn't 18 then so they didn't let me sign a professional contract so I signed a pre-contract with United. Then obviously Chelsea sent me to Norway to study and then play and train with one of the professional players. teams there.
“Then, when they saw all the news on television, 'Oh, what's happening here? Well, Mikel has signed for United, a pre-contract.' Of course, they had to send the agents, all of them, to Oslo to find out what happened.
“They came down and that's when they took me out of the club, took me somewhere hidden for a couple of hours and no one knew where I was. Finally, Chelsea flew me to London and locked me up somewhere. So I went on for about a year, trying to solve it.
He added: “I also missed a year of football because it wasn't fixed for a year, it dragged on for a year, it wasn't fixed. So I missed a year of football, so that was really… It was really hard for my family, everyone was very worried.
“I missed playing, doing what I do, which is playing football, for a year I was away. I couldn't play for anyone, FIFA told me: 'No, you can't play for anyone.'
“So I was out for a year, I couldn't train with any clubs, I couldn't be seen talking to any clubs because otherwise I'd be in trouble. So it was all crazy, but it finally got sorted.” .
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“18 years later I met the boss again and we talked about it, we joked and it was fun because he was there with David Gill (former chief executive), who of course did the transfers for United.
“He said, 'This transfer made me go gray,' so yeah, it was fun. We talked about it and laughed, it was good.”
Mikel made 372 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions and scored six goals from midfield.
He won two Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League during his brilliant period.
