John Obi Mikel has officially changed his name to John Obi Mikel.
It turns out that we’ve been referring to the Chelsea midfielder by the wrong name for years because of a spelling mistake by the Nigeria Football Federation.
Mikel was born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, but during the registration process for the 2003 Under-17 World Championships, Nigerian officials mistakenly submitted his name as “Mikel” rather than “Michael”.
The 29-year-old, who is the second-longest serving player in the current Chelsea squad, having joined them from Norwegian side Lyn in 2006, kept the name “Mikel” because he felt it had a “special ring to it.”
And Mikel likes the name so much he has made it official, according to The Evening Standard.
Chelsea fans who have Mikel’s name on the back of their jerseys will be relieved he hasn’t changed his name back to “Michael” – that is if there was anyone who actually had the player’s name on their jersey to begin with.
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