Mikel Obi recalls Sir Alex Ferguson reaction to his decision to choose Chelsea over Manchester United

Former Super Eagles skipper has taken time to recall how Sir Alex Ferguson reacted to his decision to choose Chelsea over Manchester United FC.

That decision saw him turn-down a very-interested Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson who at the time was coach of a very talented team.

Obi who retired from active football in 2022 says Sir Alex Ferguson was angry but his mind was set on playing for the Blues.

” Sir Alex thought he got me, yeah,” Mikel Obi explained.

“I did the press conference and it was everywhere. Then obviously Roman [Abramovich], everybody at Chelsea saw it and they were like, ‘What’s going on here? We’ve been looking at this player for two or three years now, what’s happening here?’

“Obviously they sent my agent down to Lyn and then he came down to Norway, and then for a couple of hours I went missing. He took me out from my apartment where I used to live with a couple of my friends.

“Then it took me about a year, I couldn’t play for either United or Chelsea because FIFA was like, ‘OK we need to resolve this.’ So I went to FIFA and I was like, ‘I didn’t mean to sign for United.'”

“I did have a meeting with Fergie at the FA office in London because the FA also wanted to get involved and was like, ‘We need to get this player playing, he’s a young player, he needs to play football.’

“It was just me and him in a room, yeah that was feisty that. I had my agent sitting outside and he was like, ‘When you go into this meeting, because he’s going to try to brainwash, everything he says, just make sure you say no.’

“So I went into that office, into that meeting, so everything he was saying I was like, ‘Ah, I’m sorry boss, I can’t play for United, it was a mistake, I didn’t mean to sign.’ It was a long table, he was sitting right over there and I was sitting at the edge of the table.

“He was sitting at the other edge, I could see him go red, he was like, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to play for United, the biggest club in the world?’ He’s like, ‘What is it you want, do you want more money? What is it you want, I’ll give it to you.’

“I was like, ‘Sorry boss, I can’t play for United, I want to go to Chelsea.’ So we had about 20 or 30 minutes in the room and he walked off and then that was it.

“He walked away, and then the next couple of weeks he was like, ‘OK, well I’m not going to let him go for free,’ so [Chelsea paid] £14million to United and £4m to Lyn.” Obi narrated.

Mikel went on to become a Chelsea legend after enjoying multiple domestic and continental successes with a the Blues over a period of eleven years.