How Burnley missed out on 17-year-old Essien after refusing to pay him £60 per week

Essien was one of the stars of the 1999 U-17 FIFA World Cup, having helped Ghana to finish third in the tournament.

He was ever-present for the Black Starlets, who lost on penalties to Brazil in the semi-finals of the competition.

In the aftermath of the tournament, Essien had trials with Burnley for a few days but the club couldn’t sign him after failing to agree on a weekly wage.

The midfielder went on to join French side Bastia and later moved to Lyon, where he won two Ligue 1 titles.

Essien became Chelsea’s record signing when the Blues forked out £24.4 million to prise him away from Lyon in 2005.

In an interview re-published by Talk Sport, former Chairman of Burnley, Brendan Flood narrated how the club missed out on signing the Ghanaian midfielder.

“I discovered Michael Essien had been on trial here for a few days. One of the best players in the World Cup – and we hadn’t signed him. The club policy meant we wouldn’t pay an apprentice more than 60 quid a week,” he said.

“It smacked me in the face that the problem was a lack of communication within the club that stopped our youth guys making an exception to the rule.”

Meanwhile, Essien enjoyed massive success at Chelsea, winning multiple titles, including the Premier League, FA Cup and the Champions League.