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‘He has forgiven me,’ Mikel reunites with Ferguson after 19 years
When Mikel was a highly-regarded young player at Lyn Oslo in Norway in 2005, United was keeping an eye on him.
The Nigerian sensation appeared to have been signed by the Devils from the Norwegian team after a contract was made public.
Mikel was even photographed sporting a United shirt, and they even held a news conference. However, the plan was drastically derailed when Chelsea intervened, and Mikel claimed he was under duress to make the change.
Mikel stated to Sky Sports News in 2006, "I didn't sign a deal with Manchester United of my own free will.
I felt a lot of pressure to carry out that action. My agent and other trustworthy people refused to give me advise, and I didn't receive much time to think about that.
"I took action that I did not want to do. It got to be too much because of pressure from Mr. Morgan (Andersen, Lyn's sporting director) and a United representative.
"I had to do it because I was pushed and no one was supporting me.
"The pressure was too much because I wasn't given a week to consider it and seek some unbiased opinion from folks.
Ferguson was scheduled to travel to Norway for crisis talks, but he was forced to postpone the trip after learning that the Nigerian had vanished from his training session and was believed to be on his way to London for negotiations with Chelsea, according to multiple sources.
He eventually joined the Blues and played for them for 11 trophy-filled years at Stamford Bridge.
Years later, Mikel disclosed on his podcast that he was terrified to see Ferguson on the touchline during Chelsea's match against Manchester United. And the retiring Scottish manager had a terrible expression on his face when they finally met.
Nineteen years later, during the evening of Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley, the retired football player encountered Ferguson, and the two had a good time.
Mikel captioned a photo of himself with Ferguson on Instagram, saying, "He has forgiven me."
After representing Nigeria in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2005, Mikel was among the top young football players prospects in the World.
Mikel won two Premier League championships, one UEFA Champions League trophy, one Europa League title, four FA Cups, two League Cups, and one Community Shield while he was a player for Chelsea.