All you need to know about Michael Essien

Early life

Born in Accra to Aba Gyandoh and James Essien, Essien attended Gomoa Nyanyano DC Primary and JSS. He began his football career after graduating from St. Augustine's College in Cape Coast, playing at a local club called Liberty Professionals.

Club football

The former Chelsea midfielder was groomed by Liberty Professionals, a local based side in Accra.

He was spotted by Bastia in the French Ligue 1 in 2000 and before he signed his first professional contract to ply his trade abroad.

The hard work of the Ghanaian yielded results at Bastia and it attracted offers from Olympique Lyon in 2003.

Despite interest from several clubs the French giants managed to secure the signature of the Michael Essien.

He was an instant hit, displaying high level of energy in midfield and emerged as one of the best box to box midfielder in the league.

In the 2004-05 he was named as the best player in the French Ligue 1, while playing for Olympique Lyon. Essien made 96 appearances, scoring 13 goals within the two seasons he played for Lyon.

Michael Essien caught the attention of Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovic who tabled down a club record signing of 24.5 million pounds for the Ghanaian in 2005. It was also an African transfer record, which stood for several years.

Michal Essien would help Chelsea to clinch the Premier League in the 2005-06 and earned a lot of praises from teammates and the media.

He became a household name in the Premier League, making a lot of headlines and obtained the nickname ‘the Bison’ for his fighting spirit and strength in midfield.

Michael Essien continued from where he left off, becoming a key part in the Chelsea midfield, despite the inclusion of ‘equally good players like Michael Ballack, John Michael Obi in the team.

He was sometimes deployed to the right back position in a make shift position and he excelled there scoring some brilliant goals including their quarter finals second leg match winner against Valencia.

Essien also helped Chelsea to the final of the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League, but they lost on penalties against Manchester United.

In the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League Michael Essien scored a stunning volley against Barcelona, yet a late minute equalizer by Andre Iniesta was enough for the Catalans to sail through to the final via the away goal rule.

Michael Essien latter stages at Chelsea was hampered by recurring injuries. He even had to leave for Real Madrid and AC Milan in 2012 and 2014, respectively on loan.

Michael Essien played 256 times for Chelsea and scored 25 goals for the Blues.

The 35 year old featured 35 times for Real Madrid, scoring twice, whereas he failed to find the back of the net in 22 appearances for the AC Milan.

He finally left Chelsea for Panathinakos in 2015, but he moved on after some few months over a breach of contract by the Greek side. His was owned several months of salaries and it was just recently that Panathinaikos settled the Ghanaian after a legal battle.

His time at the Greek giants saw him score just a goal in 16 games, while he scored five in 29 games for Persib Bandung.

Michael Essien joined Indonesian side Persib Bandung in the 2017-18 season, but he parted ways with the club after the end of the season. He was the highest paid player in the Indonesian topflight league and his presence marketed the league.

National team football

Michael Essien has played for Ghana at all levels of the national teams except in the Olympics.

The Bison was part of the team that represented Ghana in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in New Zealand in 1999. Ghana finished third in that competition.

Michael Essien was also part of the Black Satellites team that played in the 2001 FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2001 in Argentina. Ghana reached the final, but lost to Javier Saviola led Argentina.

Essien made his competitive senior debut in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations against Morocco on 21 January 2002, but had played for Ghana in a pre-tournament friendly against Egypt on 4 January 2002.

He became an instrumental part of the Black Stars afterwards and contributed immensely to power Ghana to their first ever FIFA World Cup qualification in 2006, scoring goal a goal each against Cape Verde and South Africa.

Essien played in all the three games for Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but was disqualified from the round of 16 game against Brazil due to accumulated yellow cards.

In 2010 FIFA World Cup, injuries ruled Michael Essien out of the Mundial.

He would return for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Black Stars for the first time in three FIFA World Cups, missed out on the knockout stage of the competition amid boycott of training over the delay in the payment of appearance fees.

Michael Essien played in three Africa Cup of Nations: 2002, 2008 and 2010. The Black Stasr reached the final in 2010, but lost against Egypt and they claimed the bronze medal. He is remembered for scoring a powerful header in Ghana's 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the quarter finals of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.

The 35 year old had 58 caps and scored nine goals for Ghana.

Private life

He is married to Akosua Puni.

Michale Essien has dated popular Ghanaian and Gambian actresses Nadia Buari and Princess Shyngle, respectively.

Honours

Lyon

Ligue 1: 2003–04, 2004–05

Trophée des Champions: 2003, 2004

Chelsea

Premier League: 2005–06, 2009–10[82]

FA Cup: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12

Football League Cup: 2006–07