Former Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi revealed that the famous Sir Alex Ferguson has forgiven him after he spent several years embroiled in one of the most bizarre transfer sagas in football history, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.
When Mikel was a highly-regarded young player at Lyn Oslo in Norway in 2005, United was keeping an eye on him.
The Nigerian sensation appeared to have been signed by the Devils from the Norwegian team after a contract was made public.
Mikel was even photographed sporting a United shirt, and they even held a news conference. However, the plan was drastically derailed when Chelsea intervened, and Mikel claimed he was under duress to make the change.
“I signed a contract with Manchester United and I didn’t do that of my own free will,” Mikel told Sky Sports News in 2006.
“I was put under a lot of pressure to do that. I was denied advice from my agent and people I trust and I didn’t get much time to think about that.
“I did something I did not want to do. Because of the pressure from Mr Morgan (Andersen, Lyn’s sporting director) and a representative of United it became too much.
“I was pushed and I had nobody on my side so I had to do it.
“I was denied a chance to have a week to think about it and get some independent advice from people so the pressure was too much.
Ferguson was scheduled to travel to Norway for crisis talks, but he was forced to postpone the trip after learning that the Nigerian had vanished from his training session and was believed to be on his way to London for negotiations with Chelsea, according to multiple sources.
He eventually joined the Blues and played for them for 11 trophy-filled years at Stamford Bridge. Years later, Mikel disclosed on his podcast that he was terrified to see Ferguson on the touchline during Chelsea’s match against Manchester United.
And the retiring Scottish manager had a terrible expression on his face when they finally met.
Nineteen years later, the retired footballer met with Ferguson on the night of the UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium, and both parties had a good time.
Mikel published an Instagram photo of himself with Ferguson with the message, “He has forgiven me.”
Mikel was one of the world’s top young football talents, having just won the 2005 FIFA Under-17 World Cup with Nigeria.
