"One of the more controversial transfers that Manchester United has had in the past few years is that of John Obi Mikel. Manchester United first announced the deal to sign Mikel in April of 2005. This deal was for four years, was for four million pounds, and would have had Mikel in the squad by January of 2006.

However, Chelsea issued a counter-claim later that year that stated they had negotiated an agreement with Mikel and his representation. They claimed to have helped Mikel move to Europe and that he and manager Jose MourinhoSport Entertainment & Media Group, had claimed Mikel had signed exclusive deals with them in 2003. were in talks. This was not the first time an issue with signing the player had come up. Several sporting agents, including