Biography of John Mikel Obi

By Wilkipedia

He was born in Jos, Nigeria, as John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, the son of a former civil servant. As his father was a member of the Igbo ethnic group "Nchekwube" means "hope" and "Obi" is a nickname for the Igbo name "Obinna" (meaning "Father´s will")
Obi was playing top-flight football for Plateau United aged 15, and by 2003, was gaining headlines for his country at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships held in Finland. After a brief spell in South Africa witH Ajaz Cape Town, Mikel gained global recognition in 2005 by starring at the FIFA World Youth Championship where Nigeria beat all opponents and made it to the final but lost to Argentina by 2–1.
During preparations for the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championships, the Nigerian Football Association mistakenly submitted "Michael" as "Mikel" for the tournament in Finland, He decided to keep the new name, saying that it had a special ring to it. On July 31, 2006, he stated that he prefers to be called Mikel John Obi instead of John Obi Mikel, as he had most commonly been called.
In the summer of 2005, Mikel played for Nigeria at the FIFA U-20 World Youth Championships held in the Netherlands. He had an excellent tournament until Nigeria reached the final, where they lost 2–1 to Argentina. Obi won the silver ball after being voted the tournament's second best player.
On January 24, 2009, Mikel was charged with drunk driving, just hours before an FA Cup game against Ipswich Town – Mikel was not due to play in the game as he was serving a suspension.
Controversial transfer to England
On April 29, 2005, a few days after Mikel turned 18, English premier League side Manchester United announced that it had struck a deal with Lyn Oslo to sign the player . United's website also claimed that they had done a deal directly with the teenager and that he had signed a contract to join them. Mikel's agents were bypassed as the club persuaded the youngster to sign a 4 year contract without representation. Lyn Oslo allegedly sent a fax to his agents abroad, claiming their services were no longer required by Mikel. Reports said the deal was initially worth £4m, and would see the player arrive at Old Trafford in January 2006.
Rival Premier League side, Chelsea, later issued a counter-claim suggesting that they already had an agreement with Mikel and his agents, but Lyn Oslo denied this claim. However, subsequent reports indicated that Chelsea claimed to have been involved in arranging the player's original move to Europe with a view to signing him at a later date. Further substance was added to this claim after it was revealed that the player had impressed Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho while training with the club's first-team squad during the summer of 2004.
Mikel expressed his delight at joining United in a hastily arranged] press conference, where he was pictured holding up a Manchester United shirt, which bore the squad number 21. Following his signing of the contract to join Manchester United, there were claims from Norway that he had received a number of threatening phone calls from unknown sources. Mikel was assigned a security guard and moved to a safe hotel. However, on May 11, 2005, the midfielder went missing during a Norwegian Cup game against Klemetsrud; he had not been selected for the match but had been watching from the stands. Whilst the player was believed to have left with one of his agents, John Shittu, who had by now flown in to meet Mikel, his disappearance sparked massive media coverage in Norway and also provoked a police enquiry after the Lyn Oslo director Morgan Andersen made claims in the Norwegian media that Mikel had been ‘kidnapped’ '. These claims were later repeated by Manchester United's assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, who accused Chelsea of being involved in the alleged 'kidnapping'.
It subsequently emerged that Mikel had travelled to London with his agent John Shittu. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson considered travelling to Oslo to visit Mikel, but decided against this after Mikel was reported to have left the country. Staying in a London hotel, and some nine days after disappearing, Mikel stated on Sky Sports News that he had been pressurised into signing the contract with United, claims furiously rebuffed by both Manchester United and Lyn Oslo. Mikel also claimed that he had asked the clubs for a week to think about it, but that this request was refused and the clubs pressured him into signing without his advisors being present. Mikel's claims, if true, would mean that Manchester United had acted in breach of FIFA and FA rules. Mikel told the British media that Chelsea were the club he genuinely wanted to sign for. In response to these events, United made an official complaint to FIFA about the behaviour of both Chelsea and the player's agents, John Shittu and Rune Haunge, already infamous for his role in the George Graham bungs scandal. FIFA dismissed these claims in August 2005 stating there was insufficient evidence to bring a case against Chelsea.
Following the tournament, Mikel failed to return to Lyn Oslo, and the club lodged a complaint with FIFA. On August 12, 2005, FIFA ruled that Mikel should return to Lyn Oslo to see out his contract with the Norwegian club, whilst they would decide at a later date whether the contract he signed with United should be upheld or cancelled. After a delay of over a month, Mikel complied with the FIFA decision and returned to Lyn Oslo in early September 2005 after a three month absence.
Transfer resolved
Rather than leaving FIFA to determine the validity of the contract signed with Manchester United, Chelsea intervened by volunteering to settle the transfer saga through negotiation with Lyn Oslo and Manchester United.
On June 2, 2006, Chelsea, Manchester United and Lyn Oslo reached a settlement to resolve the future of the player. Mikel's registration was to be transferred from Lyn to Chelsea; Manchester United agreed to terminate their option agreement with Mikel. Under the terms of this agreement Chelsea agreed to pay Manchester United £12 million, half paid upon the finalisation of the contract and the other half in June 2007, and Lyn £4 million, half payable immediately and half in June 2007. As a result of this settlement, all claims in this matter were withdrawn. On July 19, 2006, Chelsea were granted a work permit for the midfielder after they completed the £16 million signing in June 2006.
In the aftermath of the transfer, Morgan Andersen, who had a previous conviction for forging official documents, was convicted of fraud and making false accusations and given a one-year suspended jail sentence by an Oslo court. The court also ordered him to pay 20,000 kroner (£1,944) in costs. Chelsea made a High Court claim for £16m against FC Lyn Oslo and Andersen following the conviction, claiming that the previously agreed settlement was not binding as "the transfer was based on a fraudulent misrepresentation, now proven by a court of law". This claim was subsequently resolved out of court.