From The Observer:
Chelsea have fiercely denied claims they have paid money to entice John Obi Mikel, the talented Nigerian teenager at the centre of a sensational transfer chase, to sign for them and snub Manchester United.
United have asked the FA Premier League to investigate the transfer of the youngster from Lyn Oslo, his club in Norway, where he is said to have been studying since last August, believing they have a valid contract signed by him. But Mikel, having fled to London after receiving death threats as a result of the transfer furore, has said he was forced to sign for United and apparently wants to play for Chelsea.
Wherever the truth lies, Mikel, who was born in Jos, northern Nigeria, where his father is in the transportation business, has come into some money. His talents have allowed him to cash in and move his family from their modest home to a bigger house in a more affluent part of Jos and, before he left for Norway, he bought Mercedes for both himself and his father, Michael Obi.
Speaking from the family home, Michael claimed to have been paid to persuade his son to join Chelsea and also said that John has received a large sum. When asked about Michael's claim, Chelsea's director of communications Simon Greenberg said: 'Chelsea did not make any payments whatsoever. No money has gone from Chelsea to him or his father.'
However, Mikel's father claimed he was given the money about a year ago. He said he did not know if his son had been given a rumoured £80,000 from Chelsea. Under Fifa rules, any payment to an African player under 18 - Mikel has just turned 18 - is illegal.
Chelsea are furious that United appear to have signed Mikel, one of the most highly rated young players in the world. As revealed in The Observer last week, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was unhappy and is believed to have intervened. The story grew during the week, with several parties asserting a claim, among them the disgraced Norwegian football agent Rune Hauge; Jerome Anderson, chief executive and founder of sports agents SEM; the Nigerian John Shittu, who works for Anderson and who has been with Mikel for the past week; Daniel Fletcher, another agent who claims to have held a contract to represent Mikel since last year and is considering legal action; and the Pepsi Academy of Lagos, where Mikel learnt his football. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, desperate to secure the player, was even going to fly to Norway before discovering Mikel was in London.
Early last week, Mikel's father, a captain of Jos Bukuru in the 1950s, claimed his family were paid £4,000 through a representative to sign for Chelsea, but then he alleged United came knocking at the door. 'United went to my son in Norway and pressured him. I do not like this. I have not even met anyone from Manchester United, unlike Chelsea. Chelsea deny any direct contact with Mikel's father, saying whoever met him may have been claiming to be acting on behalf of Chelsea.
Any remaining goodwill between Manchester United and Chelsea vanished yesterday when the dispute over the transfer of John Obi Mikel's transfer descended into open hostility. United confirmed that they have lodged an official complaint with the Premier League and Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant Carlos Queiroz accused the champions of "taking football into the jungle".
Despite persuading Mikel to sign a contract a fortnight ago, United have privately given up all hope of the Nigerian midfielder playing for them after what they claim is "the dirtiest of dirty-tricks campaigns".
However, Chelsea are understood to have made an important breakthrough in determining that Mikel is free to join them. Several agents are acting on their behalf and a document has been uncovered that allegedly states that the Norwegian club Lyn had no sale rights for the player. Mikel is in London, speaking to representatives acting on behalf of Chelsea, and Queiroz believes that the 18-year-old has been offered a financial incentive that would multiply his wages by "three or four times".
Even seasoned campaigners such as Ferguson, a man who has been accused of skulduggery in the past, have been genuinely taken aback, particularly as the London club are preparing for next week's Premier League hearing into their meetings with Arsenal's Ashley Cole, and at a time when they have also been accused of trying to tap Rio Ferdinand.
"This is not a new movie. It has happened with Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and now John Obi Mikel," Queiroz added. "The important thing is that the football institutions - the people at Fifa, Uefa and the Football Association - are strong and united on this issue and help to keep the game with credibility and respectability.
"We must present a strong team and condemn who is in the wrong here. And if we allow people who don't deserve to be in football to damage the credibility of the game, we all lose. I lose as a professional, the players lose, and the public, everybody loses. We need to keep the business of football under rules and moral principles otherwise football will drop into the jungle.
"We have a boy here who is 18 and talking on television in Norway a few days ago about how happy he is to have signed a contract at Manchester United. "It is wrong, but very easy, that another club should then come along to this contracted player, sell him illusions and promise him three or four times the money he has already been offered.
"It is unacceptable that a boy of 18 can almost be kidnapped from his home environment and taken to London and, within one day, be talking on TV with an unhappy face."