JOHN OBI MIKEL has beforehand revealed that tough nut Roy Keane was his personal private bodyguard when he was only a schoolboy.
The Nigerian midfielder, 35, was concerned in one of many largest switch tussles in soccer historical past when he sensationally rejected Manchester United for Premier League rivals Chelsea.
However when Sir Alex Ferguson invited Mikel to coach at United after impressing for his nation on the Fifa Beneath-17 World Cup in 2003, the teen was thrown within the deep finish with the first-team.
In the course of the month long-trail Mikel recalled the time no-nonsense Keane took him below his wing.
Talking solely to SunSport, he mentioned: "I skilled with the primary staff. Roy Keane was my bodyguard.
“Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt at all times tried to kick me however couldn’t when Roy was there as a result of he’d have killed them.
“Sir Alex known as me Obi Wan (after the Star Wars character).
“He known as me into his workplace at some point and mentioned: ‘Obi Wan, are you aware what Keane, Scholes and all of the senior gamers have instructed me? They mentioned you need to signal that boy’.
“I couldn’t imagine it. Right here was I, a schoolkid from Africa, coaching with among the finest on this planet.”
United thought that they had signed the subsequent sensation when Mikel put pen to paper at a hastily-arranged press convention in 2005 and was photographed in a United shirt.
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However following a sequence of secret conferences with Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich, Mikel ultimately determined to hitch Chelsea... leaving Fergie livid.
Chelsea ended paying Manchester United £12million in compensation over the transfer.
However it proved the proper one as Mikel turned one of many membership’s most embellished gamers, profitable the Champions League and Europa League, two Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups and two League Cups in his 11 years there.
Mikel left Stamford Bridge in 2017 and headed to China with Tianjin Jinmen Tiger earlier than a return to England for a six-month spell at Middlesbrough in January 2019.
He then joined Turkish aspect Trabzonspor for a season however got here again to the Championship 12 months later to hitch Stoke Metropolis.
In July 2021 he then moved to Kuwait FC however his contract was terminated after simply 4 months - resulting in the star formally saying his retirement from enjoying on the age of 35 in September 2022.
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