I was 16 years old, and the 2003 Under-17s World Championship was my showcase, my time to announce myself to the world, Mikel tells FourFourTwo. Because I had an amazing tournament, the whispers started. Everybody started to know about this wonderkid called Mikel all the agents and all the clubs started looking for me. One agent showed up inside our team hotel and was asking everyone: 'Where is this kid?'