Written by Enitan Abdultawab
John Obi Mikel, a former midfielder for Chelsea and Super Eagles, revealed that despite Manchester United’s intense interest in him as a teenager, the club was unable to sign him due to stringent eligibility requirements.
Mikel disclosed that he routinely trained with the Manchester United first team at Old Trafford for almost a month when he was just sixteen.
He claims that Premier League regulations pertaining to young African players ultimately prevented then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson from keeping him at the team.
According to the rules in place at the time, non-European players had to have played in at least 75% of their nation’s senior national team games in order to be eligible for a move, Mikel said in an interview with Sky Sports.
He didn’t fit the requirements because he hadn’t yet played for Nigeria’s senior squad.
He added that because he was too old to play competitively for United’s first squad, the situation was made more difficult. “The plan was to discreetly bring me in and advance things before I turned eighteen.”
The former captain of the Super Eagles continued, “The rule at the time required players to have represented their national team in at least 75% of matches before being eligible to sign.”
Mikel recalled that Ferguson frequently paired him with seasoned player Roy Keane during training sessions, demonstrating his obvious faith in his skills.
“I was loved by Fergie. Because he believed Roy Keane would shield me from players like Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who were always tackling individuals in training, he would always put me with Keane.
