Legendary ex-manager Sir Alex Ferguson once resorted to locking a teenage prodigy in a room in a last-ditch effort to convince him to sign for Manchester United.
The extraordinary revelation comes from former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, who has lifted the lid on the intense battle between two Premier League giants for his signature as a teenager.
Mikel had already signed a pre-contract agreement with United and was expected to join the club after turning 18. But as he continued to impress in Norway with Lyn, Chelsea made their move and the situation quickly spiralled into a full-blown transfer saga involving FIFA, the FA, and millions of pounds.
Speaking on talkSPORT alongside former Blues team-mate Claude Makelele, Mikel revealed the moment Ferguson personally intervened in an attempt to keep the deal alive.
‘FIFA was trying to sort it out. They couldn’t sort it out for about a year. I missed a year of football. So I was staying in an apartment in Fulham,’ Mikel explained.
‘United didn’t want to let me go. Chelsea were not going to back down because they were saying, “He’s our player, we took him to Norway, we’ve been looking after him. He’s going to school in Norway playing football.”
John Obi Mikel was pictured in a Manchester United shirt in 2005 but he eventually joined Premier League rivals Chelsea from Lyn, instead of moving to Old Trafford
Sir Alex Ferguson was very keen to sign Mikel and tried his best to persuade him to join United
‘So the whole thing was just crazy. And then FIFA said, “Listen, we tried, we couldn’t sort it out. It’s down to the FA to sort it out.” So then the FA got involved.
‘Then Fergie said, “Listen, give me 30 minutes with the kid, alone, in a boardroom office. I can convince him to still come to Manchester United.” So he flew down to London. I was in a room with him, alone.
‘My agent was sitting outside. And he said, “Whatever he says to you in that meeting, just nod your head and say, nope, nope, nope.” So I spent 20 minutes with him, locked in a room.
‘He was just saying, “What is the problem? Why don’t you want to come to Manchester United? Is it more money? I will give you more money. What do you need? What do you want? We need you at the club.”
‘I just kept saying no. I said, “Sorry, I just want to play for Chelsea.”
Ferguson eventually accepted defeat and returned to Manchester, but not before demanding a fee from Chelsea for letting the player go.
‘He flew back to Manchester. And then two days later, we got an offer saying, “Okay, I’ll let the kid go, but you have to pay,” Mikel added.
Midfielder Mikel (second from left) eventually joined Chelsea in 2006 and stayed until 2017
Mikel spoke to talkSPORT on Friday about how Ferguson tried to convince him to join United
‘I think it was 12 or 13 million pounds to Manchester United and four million to my club in Norway. And that was how the whole thing was sorted.’
Mikel joined Chelsea in 2006 and went on to make 372 appearances for the London club. He won 11 trophies at Stamford Bridge, including the Champions League, two Premier League titles and four FA Cups.
Despite turning down Ferguson, Mikel insists the iconic manager eventually made peace with the decision.
‘It’s so good for the boss to finally forgive me after such a long time,’ he said. ‘He mentioned it a couple of times [during his career], it was like, “You were the one that got away aren’t you?”‘
Mikel left Chelsea in 2017 and went on to represent Tianjin TEDA, Middlesbrough, Trabzonspor, Stoke City and Kuwait SC before calling time on his playing career in 2021.
Meanwhile, Ferguson ended his remarkable career as a manager in 2013, shortly after winning his 13th Premier League title with United.
Ferguson also delivered five FA Cups, four League Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup and four European trophies – including two UEFA Champions Leagues – during his record-breaking 26 years at Old Trafford.
