The Norwegian police are likely to question John Obi Mikel,
It was Mikel himself and his agent, John Shittu, who, in November 2005, initiated civil and penal proceedings with the Norwegian authorities, claiming that their signatures on the contract with Lyn Oslo had been forged.
The contract was dated April 22, 2005, Mikel's 18th birthday. Seven days later he signed a pre-contract agreement to join Manchester United, although he later claimed he had been pressured to move to Old Trafford when in fact he wanted to play for
United and Lyn Oslo then contacted Fifa, the world governing body of football, claiming that Shittu was attempting to induce a breach of agreement.
In May 2005 Fifa launched an investigation which not only covered United and
It was after Fifa had launched their investigation that Mikel and Shittu filed their criminal complaint which made Fifa suspend their investigation until the Norwegian proceedings were over.
In the meantime, however, both
Pal Sverre Hernaes, a police prosecutor with the finance crime division of Oslo Police, told me: "Just because John Mikel and John Shittu withdrew their criminal complaint it does not mean the police stop investigating. This is a complicated case we have been investigating since last year but we hope to have some results by next month."
I understand that Hernaes will first contact the Norwegian man at the centre of the deal, Morgan Andersen, the former director general of Lyn Oslo.
It was in that capacity that Andersen, a former national ice hockey player, brought Mikel to
Andersen has since quit his job at Lyn Oslo and is now the sporting director with a rival club, Fredrikstad. He did not return my calls.