Allnigeriasoccer.com has uncovered ten interesting facts about former Chelsea star and Super Eagles skipper John Obi Mikel.

1) A certain Bright Okafor is credited with the discovery of Mikel and he took the attacking midfielder to the Nigerian U17 camp in 2002.

2) At the training camp, Mikel’s performance did not measure up to standard in the eyes of the technical crew and he was subsequently dropped by coach Ganiyu Salami.

3) If not for Bitrus Bewarang, now the Technical Director of the Nigerian Federation, perhaps nobody would have heard about Mikel. Bewarang was unhappy that Mikel was axed from the U17 squad and he gave a written note to Bright Okafor to take to the U17 coaches to reverse their decision.

4) Mikel was reinstated into the squad after starring for Plateau United Feeders in their 4-0 thrashing of the Golden Eaglets in a friendly. Another gem was uncovered in the national team’s trip to Jos in the shape of Ezekiel Bala, who netted a brace for Jos City Raiders in their 2-2 draw with the Nigeria U17s. Both were handed fresh call ups.

5) Mikel spent his formative years as a footballer at Greater Tomorrow FC (now known as El Kanemi Junior Jos), before joining Pepsi Football Academy and Plateau United Feeders.

6) He began his education at Township School Jos before proceeding to the famous Saint Murumba College Jos.

7) Mikel played the number ten role for all the grassroots teams he represented in Nigeria due to his exceptional qualities.

8) Born on 22 April 1987, he trained with South African club Ajax Cape Town for several months before he was snapped up by Lyn Oslo (Norway).

9) He holds the record of being the most expensive Nigerian teenager signed by a European club when Chelsea paid a combined transfer fee in the region of 20 million euros to secure his signature from Lyn Oslo.

10) Mikel racked up 16,228 minutes of game time in the Premier League prior to his move to Tianjin Teda.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com