The birthday boy sparked a transfer saga in the mid-2000s, and so it's worth pondering how differently things might have turned out
It is the mark of great dramas that they bear scrutiny years after their finales air. They are rested, but they never rest; constantly exhumed and pored over for some fresh insight or plain old nostalgia.
Mikel John Obi’s eventual move to Chelsea in 2006 was precisely that – a suspenseful soap with twists and turns aplenty, and more than a dollop of suspense, and even now that the man himself has clarified the events that led to his decision to renege on a contract with Manchester United, there remains still a tantalizing question to ponder over.