Sir Alex Ferguson reunites with a player that once turned him down (2024)

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Sir Alex ferguson was reunited with a player that turned him down almost two decades ago the Champions League final.

The Manchester United legend was in the stand at Wembley Stadium as Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0.

Goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jnr sealed the LaLiga giants' 15th Champions League title and Carlo Ancelotti's fifth as a manager.

From Eric Cantona to Robin Van Persie, Ferguson more often than not was able to convince big names to move to Old Trafford.

But that was not the case with John Obi Mikel, who instead opted to join Chelsea despite actually signing for United in 2005.

The pair crossed paths at the final and Mikel was able to take a quick picture with the legendary Scottish manager.

A tweet from the account of Mikel's podcast, The Obi One Podcast', said: 'All is forgiven between @Mikel-John-Obi & Sir Alex Ferguson.

'Lip readers out there might disagree, though'.

In 2005 Mikel, who was playing for Lyn Oslo, secured a switch to United shortly after turning 18. United persuaded Mikel to sign a four-year contract with his agents being bypassed and it was anticipated that the midfielder would arrive at Old Trafford in January 2006.

However, Chelsea then suggested that they already had an agreement with Mikel and his agents.

Although he was pictured wearing a United shirt at a press conference in Norway, Mikel later stated that he was pressured into signing for the contract without his agent present and said that he wanted to sign for Chelsea.

United complained to FIFA about Chelsea and Mikel's agents and the situation was finally resolved in June 2006 when Chelsea, United and Lyn reached a settlement regarding the player's future.

Mikel went on to sign for Chelsea in a £16million deal but last year recalled an amusing tale from when he first saw Ferguson after the transfer.

The Nigerian attempted to hide from the United boss and ended up tripping over on the stairs, with Ferguson subsequently giving him a 'death stare'.

Speaking on The Debrief Podcast, Mikel said: 'I saw him one time, it was Manchester United against Chelsea, I was coming out of the dressing room and as I was coming out of the door at the corner he was coming out and I just s*** myself'

'I can't remember what happened, I think I tripped up on the stairs, he looked at me and he just walked out. He started chewing his gum and just walked out. He didn't say a word.'

However, Mikel revealed that Ferguson eventually forgave him for the transfer.

He said: 'It was a death stare. I met him a few times after that and we started talking about it and he forgot about it and forgave me.'

Mikel went on to enjoy a lengthy spell at Chelsea as he remained at the club until 2017.

In total he played 372 times for Chelsea and scored six goals, while he won the Champions League, two Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and the Europa League.

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