There probably isn’t a player in the Premier
League as underappreciated as Mikel John
Obi. The Nigerian midfielder is the unspoken
permanence at the back of Chelsea’s
midfield: a solid, reliable performer who
seems only to be noticed on the odd
occasions when he makes a mistake. He
radiates a quiet confidence, rarely gives the
ball away – nobody at Chelsea makes more
passes per game than him, nobody has a
better pass completion rate – and, if he
doesn’t win many headlines, that in itself
seems testimony to his discipline and self-
sacrifice.
It might not have been like that. His
international debut came in a Africa Cup of
Nations match in Port Said in 2006, when he
was just 18. Nigeria had been sluggish,
struggling to break down Zimbabwe when
he came on nine minutes into the second
half. After three minutes he dropped a
corner on to the head of Christian Obodo:
1-0. Four minutes later, cutting in from the
left, he threw defender and goalkeeper with
a feint to shoot, then casually slipped a
right-foot finish just inside the post from 20
yards: 2-0.
In seven minutes he had transformed the
game: it seemed an awesome introduction
to his talents. Jay-Jay Okocha hailed him as
the best 18-year-old he had ever seen,
calling him “a natural talent of the type that
rarely emerges now”. What was most
remarkable was that he had played only six
times for his club, the Norwegian side Lyn,
the previous year because of the dispute
between Chelsea and Manchester United
over his move to these shores. He should
have been rusty, but he was, as José
Mourinho put it, “pure gold”.
Mikel was born in Jos in northern Nigeria,
the son of a civil servant who had been a
decent footballer himself. His older brother
had a career as a goalkeeper in the Nigerian
first division but it was John who was
special, making his debut for Plateau United
in the Nigerian top flight at the age of 15. By
2002 he was in the Nigeria Under-17 squad.
The following year he impressed at the
Meridien Cup, a youth tournament for
European and African national sides, and
was approached by scouts from Manchester
United.
Chelsea saw him at the World Youth Cup in
Finland that autumn and asked him for a
trial. Mikel refused, explaining that his heart
was already set on Manchester United,
whom he fully expected to follow up their
earlier interest. According to John Shittu,
Mikel’s then-adviser, they did not. Mikel,
seeking to broaden his football education,
moved on to Ajax Cape Town in South Africa.
There he was funded by Shittu – or at least,
that’s Shittu’s story; others say it was
Chelsea who were paying.
Mikel moved on to Europe, and the
Norwegian club Lyn. Two months after his
18th birthday, sick of waiting for United, he
sought a move to Chelsea. And that is where
the legal problems set in. A player cannot
sign a professional contract until he is 18;
Mikel and Shittu claimed he never signed
professional terms at Lyn. Lyn had a
contract, but Shittu insisted it was a forgery.
After the Cup of Nations, Mikel returned to
Lyn, still banned from playing club football
until the dispute was resolved. He stayed
until the following June, when Chelsea
reached an agreement with Lyn and United.
When he arrived at Stamford Bridge, with
expectations sky-high despite the fact he
hadn’t played a club match for a year,
Mourinho decided to use him as a holding
midfielder. He was sent off in his first league
game and didn’t complete a match till the
following April. He has remained
undervalued ever since.
Mikel was Nigeria’s best player as they won
their first Cup of Nations for 19 years earlier
this month, though, and has come back, you
would think, with confidence enhanced.
Now, perhaps, is the time for Chelsea to let
him know he is appreciated here too.