In December 2003, Ajax Cape Town had a special visitor all the way from Jos, a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
At 16, very few at the club cared to take notice of this mysterious teenage guest. Justifiably so!
But that was only until the boy from J-Town trotted onto the turf of Ajax’s Ikamva base with the swagger of a world beater.
John Obi Mikel’s ingenuity was just unmistakable. His football talent was beyond question.
In fact, he needed just 20 minutes to show the Urban Warriors they were hosting the next best thing in world football.
“After about 20 minutes of training, I told the players, ‘Listen, guys, I’ve got to dash somewhere, but I’ll be back’. I left my assistant conducting training, and I went straight into John’s [Comitis] office, and I said, ‘John, sign this player right now, call him now and sign him right away’,” Gordon Igesund, who was Ajax’s head coach at the time, tells FARPost.
SUPERIOR PASSING RANGE
Make no mistake; the nomadic Igesund was no excitable novice at that point. The man already had under his belt three PSL titles [with Manning Rangers, Orlando Pirates and Santos].
Surely, his sharp eye had seen hundreds of footballing prodigies. But there was something out of the ordinary about this particular one.
The teenager was endowed with several hallmarks of a defensive midfielder. A superior passing range, vision, composure, excellent first touch, and balance—you name it.
By his own admission, Igesund had never seen such attributes!
For that reason, the 66-year-old mentor could not wait another minute. He was in awe and couldn’t finish training without insisting that this talent be signed.
With his trademark ‘lightning quick’ stride, the former Bafana Bafana mentor stormed into the club chairman Comitis’ office to alert him that he had seen a player who would bolster his squad in the January transfer window. It was a matter of urgency. Igesund was so convinced this sensational teenager could quickly reinvigorate his side.
“During the first training session, Gordon Igesund came to me and said: ‘sign him’. I said: ‘I’ll try,” Comitis recalls.
SIR ALEX FERGUSON
Little did Igesund know that Manchester United scouts had already circled this gem after spotting him at the 2003 Meridien Youth Tournament held in Egypt.
The Red Devils, then under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson, also got a closer look at the boy when the Nigerian Under-17 squad trained at the club’s Carrington grounds before the FIFA Under-17 tournament held in the fall of that year in Finland.
It further got complicated when Mikel’s domineering performance at that tournament in Cairo caught the attention of Chelsea scouts, who invited him and three other Nigerians for trials at Stamford Bridge.
However, British immigration and FIFA rules meant that the English club’s interest in the midfielder’s services would have to wait until he was 18.
His agent John Shittu, who had known him since he was 12, says he never intended to sell the boy to Ajax. The preferred destination was always Europe.
“The arrangement was different. We wanted him to go to Europe, where many clubs wanted him in England, Italy and France. So, (in Cape Town) he was just in transit,” Shittu tells FARPost in a telephonic interview from his UK base.
Comitis concurs: “In 2003, I got a call from Manchester United about four Nigerian players they wanted to secure, and they asked if they could come to me. I later got a similar call from Chelsea.”
Mikel, who later found himself at the centre of a wrangle between the two EPL giants, reportedly had his heart set on playing for the Red Devils.
Later, when the saga with United began, Chelsea claimed they had paid for his week-long stay at Ajax and arranged for his move from the club to Sweden’s Lyn Oslo FC, Mikel’s first European club, to sign him later.
HE HAD PRESENCE
Never mind the politics that surrounded Mikel in his earlier days. Perhaps, just perhaps, he was a victim of his exceptional abilities.
No wonder in Cape Town he left players, possibly 10 or so years his senior, in admiration.
“The boy was in a different league. He was big, strong and he could pass the ball. We tried everything in our power to sign him, but there were a few issues – between Manchester United and another club. I don’t think he had intentions of signing,” Igesund explains.
Nathan Paulse, the record top scorer at Ajax with 56 goals, was at Ikamva for Mikel’s first session and could not believe his eyes. He says Mikel’s game was far more developed than his age suggested.
“We could not believe he was 16 at that time. He was that good. He had authority, he had presence, and he was extremely good on the ball. We looked at each other during his first two days and wondered if he was 16,” Paulse says as he harks back to that momentous week.
Interestingly, Shittu got the same feeling the first time he was introduced to the 12-year-old Mikel.
“He was so skinny when I first saw him, aged 12. You could see the talent was there,” he says.
Comitis explains how Ajax, a satellite club of Dutch giants AFC Ajax Amsterdam, came into the picture.
“Ajax Amsterdam and Chelsea were discussing a cooperation, and we already had an arrangement with Ajax,” he says.
R1 MILLION SIGNING-ON FEE
Although Shittu reveals the intended destination for Mikel was Europe, Comitis admits they did attempt to sign him but were put off by the numbers.
“He was special, but they were talking about an R1 million signing-on fee,” Comitis adds.
He then makes a frank admission: “Had I known, what I know today, it was cheap at that price, but you never know.”
While Ajax had a strong interest, Paulse further says it never made sense what a talent like Mikel was looking for in Africa. He was a jewel in the crown, an intelligent midfielder who knew what to do with the ball before it even got to his feet.
“From a playing point of view, he was amazing. I don’t think playing in the PSL would have done him good. His ability was just too good at that age.
“He stood out immediately; he was extremely calm on the ball. He could run with the ball like a top professional. I don’t think the PSL would have suited him in terms of the level,” Paulse insists.
Watching him at Chelsea after his 2006 move to Stamford Bridge, where he spent 10 years, Paulse saw a slightly different player.
“At Chelsea, he was more of the immobile number 6. However, when he came to Ajax, he was very active roving in midfield maybe because he was younger,” Paulse explains.
NIGERIAN PRODIGY
Mikel’s prospects as a player were accentuated at the FIFA Under 20 Championship held in the summer of 2005 in the Netherlands. He caught the attention of the rest of the footballing world. He and PSG ace Lionel Messi were voted the world’s two best up-and-coming stars.
Phrases like “Nigerian prodigy” were common appellations for the young lad after that tournament. Besides winning the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship Silver Ball, he was named CAF’s Most Promising Talent of the Year.
Mikel went on to captain Nigeria’s Super Eagles as he blossomed into a superb talent. He also won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, two EPL titles and the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea.
He later had stints with Middlesborough, Turkey’s Trabzonspor and Stoke City back in the Premier League.
On Tuesday, 27 September, after a short spell with Kuwait SC, Mikel announced his retirement from football at 35.
Mikel might not have signed for Ajax Cape Town, but his mere flirtation with the club left a big impression.
Mzansi was privileged to host one of the finest talents to emerge from Nigeria.
