Michael Essien Bio
Extremely powerful and with great energy and stamina to match undoubted skill, Essien has proved to be a commanding midfield presence for Chelsea since signing from Lyon for £24.4m in August 2005. And even when called upon to play on the right of defence the Ghanaian international has been superb, though his talents are somewhat wasted there.Chelsea completed the protracted signing of Essien in August 2005 after a chase which had lasted the whole summer.
He made his debut as a second half substitute in a 1-0 victory over Arsenal and made an instant impact.
Essien had tasted success early in his career as he picked up a gold medal with Ghana at the African Under-17 Championship and a bronze medal at World Under-17 Championships.
He moved to France in 2001 when joining Bastia from Liberty Professionals, reaching the French Cup final in his debut season.
That same year he had won another medal - a silver at World Youth Championships.
The midfielder made his full debut for Ghana at the 2002 African Cup of Nations.
Lyon made their move for Essien in 2003, paying £5.2million, after he had made 66 appearances and scored 11 goals for Bastia. By the end of his first season he was already being linked with Liverpool and Everton.
Essien's first season with Lyon saw him pick up his first championship medal, a feat he repeated in 2004/05 as the club also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
He was voted Player of the Year by France's National Union of Professional Footballers in 2004/05.
The combative midfielder was signed as the perfect midfield partner for Frank Lampard at the heart of Chelsea's engine room, with Claude Makelele providing the cover in front of the back four.
New Lyon manager Gerard Houllier, the former Liverpool boss, described Essien as a player in the same class as Steven Gerrard, Lampard, Michael Ballack and Patrick Vieira.
But Essien, who penned a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge, rejected comparisons with other midfield stars insisting 'everyone has his own style of play'.
He helped Ghana to reach the World Cup for the first ever time in 2006 and extended his Chelsea contract to run until 2012 that summer.
His success continued in 2007 as he was named Chelsea's Player of the Year, adding League Cup and FA Cup winners' medals to his Premiership title of 12 months earlier.
He again shone during 2007/8, with Chelsea fans unable to imagine life without such a force of nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment