The player involved in of the Premier League's most protracted, confusing and bitter transfer sagas, John Obi Mikel has been reflecting on his brief spell as a Manchester United player.
Although he would go on to play almost 400 games for Chelsea, winning multiples of every trophy available, the Nigerian midfielder once looked set to join Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt in the centre of United's midfield.
While it was never meant to be, the 15 year old Mikel made a strong first impression on his fellow players during his brief spell at Old Trafford.
Speaking to The Sun, Mikel relayed the message that was coming from Alex Ferguson himself:
Sir Alex called me Obi Wan (after the Star Wars character).
He called me into his office one day and said: 'Obi Wan, do you know Keane, Scholes and all the senior players have told me? They said you have to sign that boy.'
I couldn't believe it. Here was I, a schoolkid from Africa, training with some of the best in the world.
One player particularly taken with Mikel was United's captain, Roy Keane.
As some of the experienced players attempted to give Mikel a baptism of fire on the training pitches of Carrington, Keane acted as Mikel's 'bodyguard':
I trained with the first team.
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt always tried to kick me but couldn't when Roy was there because he'd have killed them.
The Corkman clearly must have seen something in the young man to provide him with this kind of preferential treatment.
Famously ruthless with new additions to the squad, one is left wondering what impact the Nigerian could have had on United's middling-to-poor mid 2000s.
He certainly could have eased the post-Keane transition for a team that struggled to adopt in his absence.
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