Former Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has revealed that Manchester United were unable to sign him during a trial because of eligibility rules for young African players.
According to an interview with Sky Sports seen by Real Broadcasting Network on Tuesday, Mikel was just 16 when he spent a month on trial at Old Trafford and trained regularly with the first team.
Then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson was impressed with him and often paired him with veteran midfielder Roy Keane during training.
“Fergie loved me. He would always pair me with Roy Keane because he thought Keane would protect me from the likes of Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who were always tackling people in training,” Mikel said.
Despite Ferguson’s interest, he could not sign for United due to a Premier League rule governing the signing of young African players.
“At the time, the rule required players to have represented their national team in at least 75% of matches before being eligible to sign,” Mikel explained. At 16, he had not yet played for Nigeria’s national team and therefore, did not meet the requirement.
He was also too young to play for the first team, which prevented United from completing the move.
“The strategy was to get me in and out before I turned 18,” Mikel explained, referring to the club’s approach to signing young talents, “but that wasn’t possible in my case.”
His experience shows how Premier League rules and age restrictions can prevent even highly rated young talents from joining top clubs, despite support from managers like Sir Alex Ferguson.