Sordid Twists in Tussle Over Teenager

"If you switched on the African Cup of Nations in Egypt, you might have glimpsed John Michael Obi creating a goal for Nigeria, then scoring a second within minutes of coming off the bench against Zimbabwe.

Hold onto those images of innocence.

Obi is a teenager who, as lads are prone to do, happily converted his name to John (or Jon) Obi Mikel because commentators at the 2003 World Under 17 championships called him that and he thought it had "a special ring to it."

The talent to improvise, on the pitch and in his life, and the advanced physical maturity in an 18-year-old, allows him to step into a man's game with precocious assurance.

He knows the great players become universally known by a single name. Mikel is his choice, so Mikel it shall be.

If only the rest of his young life came so easily. He was born in April 1987 and emerged with Plateau United and the Pepsi Football Academy in Nigeria. By the summer of 2003, he had been invited to work out with the Manchester United team at its training base.

But British immigration laws do not permit the recruitment of minors, from Africa or anywhere else, and international soccer rules require a player to be 18 before he signs professional terms.

Mikel remained footloose until, at 17, he joined Lyn Oslo on a youth contract. Norway is becoming a half-way house for gifted young Africans.

There are Norwegian clubs willing to take in the boys, to offer them education as the country demands, and to groom them for stardom.

Lyn, it appears, had a buyer for Mikel before he officially signed a pro contract with the club in April 2005.

One week later, the boy was photographed in the Lyn office accepting a Manchester United shirt, numbered 21 bearing his name. He had been sold to the English team that wanted him all along, though he would remain in Norway until he had acquired sufficient Nigerian national team appearances to obtain a work permit in England.

Complicated? That is just the beginning...."

Rob