In the third in our series entitle the African Connection, I`ve selected a player who, courtesy of one night in Munich, will always be recalled as a legend.
However, such was the length of John Obi Mikel`s career at Stamford Bridge, we`ve decided to split the article into two parts.
Mikel was born in Jos, Nigeria, with his identity being John Michael Nchekwube Obinna. He started his football career at the tender age of twelve, selected from a cast of in excess of 3,000 youngsters to play in the Pepsi Football Academy.
Whilst with the aforementioned team, he was noticed by scouts and was picked to play for the top-flight club, Plateau United, the same team Celestine Babayaro has played for. It was whilst preparing for participation in the 2003 FIFA U17 World Championships, the Nigerian FA inadvertently submitted his name as Mikel instead of Michael, the player decided it was a name he would prefer to keep, as it had what he described as a special ring to it and asking people to call him Mikel John Obi.
It was during this period of his career that Mikel signed for the Norwegian side Lyn Fotball. During the summer of 2005, Mikel had a decent tournament, for Nigeria, at the FIFA World Youth Championships, collecting the Silver Ball as the second-best player in the tournament.
On April 29th 2005, just after Mikel had turned 18, Manchester United announced that they had signed the player on a four-year contract. However, it was a deal shrouded in controversy, as Manchester United had concluded the deal without any co-operation from Mikel`s representatives.
Chelsea issued a counter-claim that they had done a deal to sign the player with Lyn claiming the United deal was legit as they had faxed Mikel`s agents declaring they had been axed.
The situation was further complicated when Mikel was pictured holding up a Manchester United shirt emblazoned with the number 21. Mikel was to later declare that he had been pressurised into signing the deal with Manchester United and that he really wanted to play for Chelsea. Manchester United, on the back of the above, Chelsea were subjected to a FIFA enquiry, an enquiry that was dismissed in August 2005.
With the dispute far from settled though, Chelsea took the bull by the horns by volunteering to settle the transfer dispute through negotiation with Lyn and Manchester United. On 2 June 2006, Mikel`s future was determined, Manchester United terminated the contract Mikel had previously signed with them and Chelsea agreed to pay Manchester United £12 million and Lyn £4 million.
Chelsea finally had their man.
Mikel made his first start for Chelsea on 12th September 2006, in a Champions League fixture against Levski Sofia of Bulgaria, providing an assist when his shot wasn`t held by the keeper and Didier Drogba netted the rebound. But it wasn`t all plain-sailing for Mikel, after being sent off against Reading, on 14th October, Mikel was fined for turning up late for training on three different occasions. Reservations about his off-field behaviour also raised questions about his future at the club.
Mikel returned to the starting eleven for the Champions League fixture away to Werder Bremen on 23rd November 2006. His first goal for Chelsea came in the 6-1 FA Cup win against Nottingham Forest. That season Mikel won a League Cup Final winners medal when Chelsea beat Arsenal, but his afternoon ended in disappointment when, very late-on, he was red-carded for his part in a massive brawl that soured the occasion.
Back in favour, Mikel was employed by Jose Mourinho to play in front of the back-four and gave some impressive displays, showing his ball control and passing ability allowed him to break up opposition attacks whilst also sending Chelsea off on the attack. The season culminated in Mikel earning am FA Cup winners medal when Chelsea beat Manchester United in the 2007 Final.
The following season, saw Mikel red-carded against Manchester United after a tackle o Patrice Evra, Chelsea`s appeal to the FA fell on death ears. Another red-card followed in the League Cup semi-final against Everton. Nevertheless, it had been a good couple of seasons at Chelsea for the player.
In the summer of 2008, Chelsea sold Makelele to PSG, leaving the defensive midfield position vacant. With Michael Essien out injured, Mikel continued to play well in this role. His form in the 2008 / 2009 season was such that he was nominated for the Chelsea Player and Young Player of the Year awards. That summer, Mikel signed a new five-year deal with Chelsea.
The following season, 2009 / 2010, Mikel wasn`t employed as often as he`d have wished under Carlo Ancelotti but his season was still a memorable one with Chelsea winning their first ever Premier League and FA Cup double, with Mikel making 32 appearances.
The season 2010 / 2011, saw Chelsea defend their Premier League but they could only finish second, ending up nine points behind the eventual winners Manchester United, During the campaign, Mikel made twenty-eight Premier League appearances, A failure to retain the title was to cost Ancelotti his job, just a year after winning the double, such was the level of success demanded by the Chelsea regime.
But what would the season 2011 / 2012 bring to Mikel and Chelsea Football Club
Part 2 will follow
b>Mini Fact-File – John Obi Mikel
Full Name – John Obi Mikel, John Mikel Obi or Mikel John Obi
Date of Birth – 22 April 1987
Place of Birth – Jos, Nigeria
Position – Midfielder
Youth Career – Plateau United
Clubs – Lyn, Chelsea, Tianjin TEDA
International Career – Nigeria, Nigeria Olympic
If you`d like to suggest somebody you`d like us to cover in our African Connection series then simply e-mail the name of the player to JUVENILED40@HOTMAIL.COM and we`ll do the rest.
Or if you missed the first two in the series follow the links below:
Click Here – Celestine Babayaro
Click Here – Geremi
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