Former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel has revealed the reason behind why he famously rejected Manchester United in favour of joining Chelsea.

As an 18-year-old, Mikel was filmed receiving a United shirt from club representative Jim Ryan with the number 21 way back in 2005. He went onto sign a contract with the Red Devils and was supposedly a Manchester United player, however, just one month later, the Nigerian stated his desire to play for Chelsea.

What followed was like a scene of a drama, with United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz claiming Chelsea had ‘kidnapped’ Mikel and Lyn director Morgan Andersen saying Mikel was being pushed into a move to Chelsea.

Eventually though, Chelsea got their man and Mikel moved to Stamford Bridge, with the Blues paying United £12million and Lyn £4m in 2006.

Speaking to the Players’ Tribune, Mikel told the story behind his famous switch to London from Manchester.

“My Dad wasn’t too pleased about what happened,” Mikel told the Players’ Tribune. “He wanted me to go to Manchester United because he loved Alex Ferguson. Back home in Nigeria, a lot of people were saying I should go to United because of how well they work with young players, whereas Chelsea just bought superstars.

“I had all these people on both sides fighting over me. Agents, managers, strangers, guys handing me papers. I had Sir Alex Ferguson calling me on the phone on one side. And I had Roman Abramovich on the other side, putting me up in London, hiding me somewhere where only a few people knew where I was. It was really confusing, and I was a kid, you know?

“After a while, someone from FIFA gave me a phone call. They said, ‘Listen, we know you’re young and you have these two clubs fighting over you. We can’t decide for you. You can only go where you want. You have to tell us.’

“I thought about it for a long time. It was the biggest decision of my life. You know what made my mind up? Chelsea had signed three other players from Nigeria along with me. They were staying with me at the house in London to keep me company. These guys … their lives depended on the decision I was making. If I went to United, they were gone. If I went to Chelsea, they were going to have a career. No matter how long it lasted, that was important to me. Just to give them a chance, you know?

“I chose Chelsea, and four lives changed that day.”