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John Obi Mikel changes name to Mikel John Obi, officially

Attempt to avoid confusion may have backfired.

John Obi Mikel changes name to Mikel John Obi, officially
CHANGED NAME: John (Image: Голубович Дмитрий/Soccer.ru)

John Obi Mikel has officially changed his name to Mikel John Obi in an effort to avoid confusion, a move which may have backfired on him.

Born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, the Nigerian international is said to have only began to be known as Mikel after the Nigerian FA mistakenly used the name instead of Michael on his submission form for the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland.

But, according to reports, by 2006 the new Chelsea signing had significantly warmed to the error and was happy to let his newfound English fans call him John Obi Mikel.

So, apparently in an effort to clarify the situation now we are in 2016 and ahead of the upcoming Olympic tournament in which he is scheduled to take part, the 29-year-old changes his name Mikel John Obi, officially.

Read more: mirror.co.uk