A tribute to John Obi Mikel, Nigeria creator turned Chelsea water carrier

In 10 years at Chelsea, John Obi Mikel scored six goals in 374 games. Reliable but rarely a regular, his highlights reel from his time at Stamford Bridge is hardly a showstopper. But it could have been so different…

It was 2005 at the FIFA World Youth Championships in the Netherlands when Mikel first truly announced himself on the European stage, arriving at his coming-of-age party already almost fully developed. 

Samson Siasia’s Nigeria Under-20 side finished second at that tournament, losing to an Argentina team led by a certain Lionel Messi in the final, and Mikel was so impressive that he was awarded the Silver Ball as the tournament’s second-best player. Behind Messi, of course.

He might have even pipped Messi to the Golden Ball had things gone Nigeria’s way in the final, a remarkable thing to say about a solid if unspectacular defensive midfielder.

Except, back then, Mikel was anything but. Born Michael but known as Mikel after a clerical error by the Nigerian FA in the build-up to the Under-17 World Cup in 2003, he was the Flying Eagles’ creative leader.

All long limbs and sprightly invention, Mikel was an attacking midfielder that led his team by example as they put opponents to the sword.

He had announced himself on the world stage and the only way was up.

2005 FIFA U20 Best Player Awards

Golden Ball – Lionel Messi

Silver Ball – John Mikel Obi

Bronze Ball – Taye Taiwo pic.twitter.com/xfJRsShUsL

— AfricaFootballClassics (@AfricaClassic) September 12, 2019

Before Mikel had even had the opportunity to show off his talents at that tournament in the Netherlands, he was already at the centre of a hugely complicated and controversial transfer deal involving Chelsea, Manchester United, Lyn Oslo and a retinue of agents.