Mikel Obi Finally Explains Why Manchester United Missed Out On Signing Him At Just 16
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Former Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel has disclosed that Manchester United were unable to sign him as a teenager due to strict eligibility rules governing young African players.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Mikel revealed that he was just 16 when he spent a month on trial at Old Trafford, training regularly with Manchester United’s first team under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
He recalled that Ferguson was impressed with his talent and often paired him with veteran midfielder Roy Keane during training sessions.
“Fergie loved me. He would always put me alongside Roy Keane because he thought Keane would protect me from the likes of Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who were always tackling people hard in training,” Mikel said.
Despite Ferguson’s interest, the transfer never materialized due to Premier League regulations on signing young African players.
“At the time, the rule stated that a player had to have participated in at least 75% of his national team’s matches to be eligible,” he explained.
Mikel added that he had not yet played for the Nigerian national team, so he did not meet the criteria to complete the move.
He also noted that his age was another obstacle, as he was too young to feature for United’s first team.
“The plan was to bring me in before I turned 18 and then get me integrated, but that wasn’t possible in my case,” Mikel said, referring to the club’s approach to recruiting young talent.
