Chelsea reach agreement over Mikel transfer deal

Chelsea have reached an out-of-court settlement with Norwegian club FC Lyn Oslo over the transfer of Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi.

The English Premier League side had launched High Court proceedings in October aimed at recovering all of the 16 million pounds they paid for the player because of alleged fraudulent misrepresentation by officials of the Norwegian club.

In a statement issued on Monday, the club said it had “resolved all matters between the two clubs with regard to John Mikel Obi,” while stressing the terms of the agreement would remain confidential.

Obi Mikel joined Chelsea in June 2006 with the London club paying four million pounds to Lyn Oslo and a further 12 million to Manchester United, who had a prior agreement to sign the player.

Chelsea had claimed all of the money back from Lyn and their former chief executive Morgan Andersen on the basis of their subsequent discovery that the player was not under contract to the Norwegian club at the time of the transfer.

The claim was based on details that emerged in a court case which resulted in Andersen being convicted for fraud.