[Dirtycheat]

Obi Mikel cried when Man Utd move failed

Originally Posted by telegraph

John Obi Mikel was crying the day he joined Chelsea and really wanted to join Manchester United, it has been claimed in an explosive court case in Norway.


Mikel was at the centre of a three-way tug of war in 2006, with Manchester United, Chelsea and tiny Norwegian club Lyn all insisting he was their player.


In a murky case involving agents, reports of death threats and even accusations of kidnapping, the Nigerian midfielder's future seemed certain to be decided by Fifa until the three clubs thrashed out a deal eventually.

United claimed they signed Mikel from Lyn in April 2005 - when pictures appeared in the press of him holding up his No 21 shirt - and then loaned him back until the end of the Norwegian season.

But Chelsea, who reportedly helped pay for the Nigeria-born midfielder's education in Norway, insisted they had their own separate agreement with the player's agent.

Now all the bad feeling has resurfaced, with Lyn director Morgan Andersen facing charges of forging a contract that indicated Lyn did have the rights to Mikel when the player was sold.
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He has pleaded 'not guilty' and has given graphic details of a meeting with the midfielder's agent, John Shittu. He said: "It was like meeting the Sopranos. In the meeting they behaved in a threatening way. We claimed that we had the rights to Mikel, but Shittu said we would regret the deal.

"We told them that we had the right to Mikel, but Chelsea's representatives didn't agree. Soon after, John Shittu took him to the airport in Oslo. They went to London. Mikel was crying and we didn't see him for a long time after that."

In London, Mikel signed for Chelsea and was interviewed on Sky, claiming he had previously been forced into signing for Manchester United and really wanted to play at Stamford Bridge.

It's a version of events that Andersen denies. In court, he said: "A number of clubs wanted to sign Mikel and I showed all the faxes to him. He didn't want to see them, because his mind was set on Manchester United. He was very happy when the deal was done and he wanted to go to United.

"Alex Ferguson said to me that Mikel would be the new Roy Keane and he was offered a contract that was even better than the one they gave Cristiano Ronaldo when he came to the club."

Andersen described Lyn's relationship with Chelsea as "like being at war". Andersen continued to tell Chelsea his club had rights to the player but the Norwegian Football Federation did not agree and decided the contract with Mikel was not valid.

Eventually Andersen handed over the paperwork but police in Norway believe Mikel's signature was false and pressed charges.

Mikel's future was resolved in June 2006 when Chelsea agreed to pay United £12 million for him, and a further £4 million to Lyn.

Mikel has since gone on to become a key player for Chelsea, helping them to win the FA Cup and Carling Cup last season.

The court case continues.

AFAIK this isnt a joke.

I heard conspiracy theories at the time of the conflict that abromavich had paid for one of obi mikel's family members treatment and for his education, and he wanted him to play for chelsea in return. This story is most probably a load of BS but what happened is still very strange.

He said back then that united threatened him and forced him and now its said that he was extremely sad and he actually wanted to sign for man united. What could make him say that?

strange case indeed.

[funkdoctorspock]

I'm glad the events turned out the way they did the retrospect.

12 million pounds.

Reckless play of the field... tons of cards.

Lack of class.

That pretty much sums up this character. I cringed when I saw him wearing the kit.

He's not worth 12 million pounds and although I think he's a twat, he's helped finance Carrick's transfer.

[Mark]

I think it turned out pretty well for us, it's quite rare in football (no matches for united, yet so expensive). Way to violent and lacking discipline for the highest level imo.

[treble99]

Probably the first time United screwed another team when selling a player, normally we get screwed for a transfer fee, we really did one on Chelsea getting £12 mil for him.

[.aK122]

I didnt like him then and i dont like him now. Like Funky said 'Reckless on the field' and a 'Lack of class'. Id choose Carrick over him any day.

[lorken]

I'm glad we didn't get him. hargo is twice the player he is

[ViSh23]

thats nice that he is not in man utd team.. we got better midfield player than him..

[macca247]

glad we didnt get him cos we got classy anderson instead so cheers for joining chelski

[MENTAL]

maybe he would be different if he joined united as the story says he wanted to join united? so as it stands he wanted to be a united player maybe as a united player he would have had discipline but hey carrick isnt all that i prefer heargreves abetter signing than him and anderson

[dave2k]

Yeh, us man united players aren't about being an idiot on the pitch! Very glad he didn't come...