‘I snubbed Man Utd despite the fact Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane and David Gill all wanted me’

John Obi Mikel has lifted the lid on his decision to snub Manchester United for Chelsea, despite the efforts of Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill and Roy Keane to secure his signature.

The 37-year-old, who became a Chelsea icon after joining the Premier League heavyweights in 2006 and remained with the club until 2017, boasts two Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy to his name.

However, his illustrious career in west London could have taken a different path as he appeared to have signed for United in 2005 before making his move to Stamford Bridge. While at Norwegian club Lyn, a 17-year-old Mikel trained with the Red Devils and impressed so much that he inked a pre-contract with United.

A press conference was even staged with the ex-Nigeria international donning the club's home kit, but Chelsea intervened, asserting they had already struck a deal to sign Mikel after he caught Jose Mourinho's eye while training with the Blues in 2004.

Mikel met with Sir Alex and expressed his wish to join Chelsea, leading to Ferguson leaving the room after failing to secure his target. Speaking on the Obi One podcast last year, he recounted his encounter with the legendary Scotsman and how keen the former United boss was for him to join.

Image: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

"I was s****ing myself, I was like 'should I go so hi or what', he was sitting over there with a couple of friends, David Gill was there, the former chief executive [of Manchester United], I was like 'oh my God he's sitting with the whole gang, the whole Mafia is there'," Mikel confessed, reports the Manchester Evening News.

"I was thinking do I go over and say hi and I was like 'f*** it', it's been f***ing 18 years, I'm sure by now [he'll talk to me]. I went over and said 'hi boss', he's like 'oh is it the one that got away'.

"It was an amazing time for me to see him because I haven't seen him in such a long time and to finally shake his hand and speak to him after everything that went on and he was so amazing about it. I doubt if I met him 10 years ago, it would have been much different."

Image: AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images)

The Chelsea legend disclosed that Gill told him just how much stress his transfer saga caused him as he added: "He wanted me big time, even David Gill was talking about it and he told a friend of mine 'he [Mikel] turned my hair grey, the whole transfer saga turned me grey.

"It just showed how much they really wanted me, Fergie and David Gill wanted me, the players wanted me, Keano wanted me. Roy Keane used to be the man, he was the protector, I remember every time Sir Alex had to pick a team, he used to stick me together with Keano to protect me from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt."

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