Nigeria and Chelsea of England star John Obi Mikel has officially changed his name for reasons many of us still find very funny and confusing.
Image: Mikel John Obi
Everyone who has known the veteran midfielder, will never stop wondering why he would step up at this time, after all these years, to change his name.
Only girls are supposed to get a Change of Name certificate after marriage, but the 29-year-old has played professional football with Chelsea for the past 10 years, as John Obi Mikel.
He was born with the name John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, reports confirm.
It all started in 2003 when the Nigerian FA gave birth to this hilarious mix-up after misspelling the longtime Blues midfielder’s name while registering him for the Under-17 World Cup, writing Mikel on the form instead of Michael.
Mikel, however, seem to have fallen in love with the name that started a new life for him. So he decided to wear it like a “special ring”. He’s keeping it for real.
Though according to the Evening Standard, he personally always prefer people calling him Mikel John Obi. (He’s also been known as John Mikel Obi, naturally, to make things even more difficult).
As Richard Innes of the Mirror said on Tuesday, “Confused? You will be.”
The good news is, he has made efforts to make it simple and short by officially registering MIKEL JOHN OBI as his name.
The Nigerian football star will play for the country in Brazil as one of the Super Eagles senior members. He has been named the captain for Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
