Mikel happy to play for Chelsea, ‘the club that I love, the club I wanted to play for’

Chelsea legend, Mikel Obi has insisted he has no regrets choosing Chelsea ahead of Manchester United and given the chance, he will choose the west London side all over again.

Chelsea and Man United were involved in a fierce battle for the Nigerian after the London side claimed they already had an agreement with the player and his Norwegian club at the time, Lyn Oslo but the Red Devils attempted a hijack with the Nigerian even made to display a Man United jersey with Sir Alex Ferguson, the Man United manager.

Mikel’s agent, John Olatunji Shittu also insisted Lyn Oslo lied and he showed documents signed between the club and Chelsea.

On his Obi One podcast, Mikel says it was not an easy decision he made in 2006 to reject Manchester United for Chelsea.

‘Should I play for the biggest manager in the world (Sir Alex Ferguson), the biggest club in the world (Manchester United) or Jose Mourinho, the Special One who was a new vibrant manager at Chelsea?’.

‘It wasn’t an easy decision because I had family members telling me to join Manchester United, to become the first Nigerian player to play for Manchester United, but I said ‘it’s my decision, I am going to live with it’ and it has played out really well.

Unveiled with the number, Mikel 12, Mikel said he stuck to the number till the end of his paying career.

‘It was a massive relief that day honestly, I couldn’t play for almost a year, couldn’t play for Man United and couldn’t play for Chelsea because of the whole transfer saga.

‘When it was settled, it was a massive relief for me because I was able to play for the club that I love, the club I wanted to play for. I just couldn’t wait to be unveiled as a Chelsea player, my memory here was very fantastic and I will never trade my memory here for anything.