Michael Kojo Essien ( natural 3 December 1982 ) is a ghanaian former professional football player who played as a midfielder and is presently a extremity of Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland ‘s coach staff. He was besides capped for the Ghana national team more than 50 times. During his prime, Essien was considered one of the best midfielders in the universe. [ 4 ] Essien started his career play for Liberty Professionals in Ghana. In 2000, he moved to France to join Bastia, where he would spend three seasons and appear in over 60 matches before joining Ligue 1 title holders Lyon in 2003. At Lyon, Essien won back-to-back league titles in 2003–04 and 2004–05, and won Ligue 1 Player of the year in 2005. During his five-year scrimp in France, he acquired french citizenship. In 2005, Essien signed with Premier League side Chelsea for a £24.4 million transfer fee and, at the clock time of his sign, was the most expensive african football player in history. [ 5 ] At Chelsea, Essien helped the club win the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, adenine well as three FA Cups and one League Cup. He won the UEFA Champions League in 2012, [ 6 ] while besides placing as runner up in the 2008 UEFA Champions League. He has won the Chelsea Goal of the Season award doubly, in the 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons.
Reading: Michael Essien
Essien is a former Ghanaian external. At young tied, he represented his area at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, with the latter team finish as runner-up. Essien made his senior team debut in January 2002 and has represented his state at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Essien has besides represented Ghana at the 2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cups .
early life sentence [edit ]
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 anesthetic club called Liberty Professionals. Essien broke through when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand. [ 7 ] european scouts began to take notice, and Essien had a test at Manchester United in April 2000. He played in the cabaret ‘s under-17 team ‘s defeat to Derby County. [ 8 ] Manchester United offered him a contract, but he was ineligible to obtain a sour let in the United Kingdom. He, consequently, considered joining belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp until he was eligible to move to England. however, his beget meanwhile preferred a move to France rather. [ 9 ]
Club career [edit ]
Bastia [edit ]
In July 2000, Essien was signed by Division 1 club Bastia and made his introduction for the club on 30 September 2000 in a league couple against Metz, appearing as a substitute for captain Laurent Casanova. [ 10 ] Essien did not immediately command a reproducible place in the team, being deployed in diverse positions in the back four. He ultimately finished the 2000–01 campaign with only 13 league appearances and one goal, which came in the revert peg against Metz in a 3–2 kill. [ 11 ] The watch season, Essien was given an opportunity by director Robert Nouzaret to play in central midfield and flourished in this fresh role. Essien formed midfield partnerships with Nicolas Dieuze and Cyril Jeunechamp and scored critical goals in victories over Nantes, Lorient and Guingamp. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] On 12 January 2002, Essien scored the equalising goal against Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome to even the peer at 2–2. [ 15 ] He besides scored a goal in the Coupe de la Ligue against Le Mans. Future Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba converted a finish for Le Mans in the match. [ 16 ] In the 2002–03 temper, Essien developed into an undisputed starter under new director Gérard Gili. however, his coherent and physical style of play besides began to take form as he collected a stagger 12 yellow cards in league play. He opened the newly campaign by scoring on his season debut against Lens in a 1–1 pull and converted five more league goals, which included one in a surprise 2–0 victory over the defend champions Lyon. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Following the campaign, in which Bastia finished mid-table for the third consecutive temper, Essien drew matter to from Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Marseille .
lyon [edit ]
Paris Saint-Germain made Bastia the best offer and it was accepted. [ 19 ] however, Essien rejected PSG ‘s contract crack, alternatively of agreeing to terms with the two-time maintain champions Lyon, who paid Bastia €7.8 million for the transfer. [ 20 ] Upon his arrival, Essien was assigned the number 4 shirt and played as a box-to-box midfielder, which allowed him the exemption to protect and assist playmaker Juninho while defensive midfielders Edmílson and Mahamadou Diarra assisted the defense and directed the distribution. Essien made his club introduction in the team ‘s 2003 Trophée des champions match against Auxerre on 27 July 2003. In good the fifth minute of play, Essien scored his first goal for the clubhouse, and four minutes late, Diarra scored a finish. Lyon won the pit 2–1, giving Essien his first clubhouse honor as a player. [ 21 ] In fair the third match of the campaign, Essien scored his first league goal for the golf club in a 3–1 victory over Monaco. [ 22 ] He featured regularly for the rest of the crusade, making 33 more league appearances and scoring two more goals, against Bordeaux and Rennes respectively. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] On 23 May 2004, Lyon sealed their third consecutive league claim by defeating Lille 3–0 at the Stade Gerland. Essien appeared as a substitute in the peer. [ 25 ] In the UEFA Champions League, Essien appeared in eight of the ten-spot matches Lyon contested and the club was ultimately eliminated by eventual champions, Porto. In his final temper at Lyon, Essien appeared in all but one league match as Lyon were crowned champions for the fourth straight season. The match he missed was as a result of a bolshevik card endured in the previous league match. Essien besides scored three goals and collected 11 jaundiced cards, tied for second-worst in the league. His performances in the league resulted in him being voted the 2005 Player of the year by France ‘s National Union of Professional Footballers ( UNFP ). [ 26 ] Essien besides helped Lyon to reach the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League where he put in dynamic performances and scored five goals in the tournament. Lyon was finally eliminated from the tournament in a penalty shoot-out against PSV. At the end of the season, he was named Ligue 1 Player of the year. His honor started a commemorate streak of UNFP Player of the year awards for Lyon players, with the stripe coming to an end in 2008 following Karim Benzema ‘s victory. He was besides nominated for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Award. He placed 22nd in 2005. His acclaim drew attention from Chelsea which he finally signed for .
Chelsea [edit ]
Essien in 2006 On 14 August 2005, Lyon and Chelsea agreed a £ 24.4 million fee for Essien, ending one of the longest-running transfer saga. [ 27 ] At the time, the fee made Essien Chelsea ‘s most expensive sign language of all-time, surpassing the £24 million Chelsea paid for Didier Drogba the previous summer. The transfer went through on 19 August. [ 28 ] The transmit came under examination in the Stevens question report, which expressed concerns because of the miss of co-operation from agents Pini Zahavi and Barry Silkman. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] Essien made his introduction as a second-half alternate against Arsenal on 21 August 2005, wearing the number 5 on his shirt. The meet ended in a 1–0 victory to Chelsea. [ 31 ] He made an help in his wax debut against West Bromwich Albion, and he replaced the injure Claude Makélélé in the defensive midfield character against Sunderland in the 2–0 succeed on 10 September 2005. He soon cemented his place in José Mourinho ‘s side, starting in 31 domestic league matches, a well as 11 appearances in other cup competitions. On 15 December 2005, Essien was handed a two-match ban by UEFA for a controversial rigging on Dietmar Hamann, which resulted in his suspension from Chelsea ‘s Champions League second circle draw with eventual european champions Barcelona. [ 32 ] Essien apologised to Hamann for the challenge, stating that while he desires to be perceived as a player who “ unsettles ” opponents, he was not a malicious or an cheating player ; Hamann publicly accepted Essien ‘s apology. In January 2006, Essien was himself stretchered off the field after a challenge from West Ham United master Nigel Reo-Coker, and was sidelined for three weeks .
Essien warming up before a game in 2008 Essien scored his first goal for Chelsea from a first gear intersect from Shaun Wright-Phillips on 11 March 2006, in a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. [ 33 ] His second base goal came on 17 April 2006, against Everton with a brawny strike after an assertive abound through the defensive telephone line. Essien ended his maid temper in England with two goals, both in the Premier League. Essien was nominated for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year Award on 12 October 2006, where he placed 22nd. One workweek later, he was nominated for the 2006 Ballon d’Or. He was voted as the third Best African Footballer of the year in 2006, [ 34 ] a feat he besides achieved in 2005. [ 35 ] He won the 2006 BBC African football player of the year award. [ 36 ] The succeed season, Essien scored several authoritative goals, including his first gear Champions League goal for Chelsea in a 2–0 victory over Werder Bremen on 12 September 2006. Later in the rival, Essien scored a late winner in the quarter-final moment leg against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium to send Chelsea through to the semifinals with a 2–1 victory on the night and a 3–2 winnings on sum. [ 37 ] It was his first match back in the team after several weeks out with a knee wound. Essien besides scored a arresting late counterweight at home against Arsenal on 10 December 2006, as the match was going to end Chelsea ‘s retentive unbeaten political campaign. [ 38 ] On 15 May 2007, Chelsea fans voted Essien as Chelsea Player of the year for his contributions in the 2006–07 season, [ 39 ] becoming the beginning African to receive the honor. His late dramatic equalising goal against Arsenal was besides voted as Chelsea Goal of the Season for 2006–07. On 12 August 2007, Essien scored the winner with his first goal of the 2007–08 Premier League campaign, as Chelsea defeated Birmingham City to set an english criminal record for unbeaten league matches at home, eclipsing Liverpool ‘s previous top-flight record of 63 sets between 1978 and 1981. [ 40 ] On 10 October 2007, Essien was nominated [ 41 ] for the esteemed 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year Award for the third consecutive year and on 21 October 2007, he was besides nominated for the 2007 Ballon d’Or Award for the third base consecutive year. He was voted 15th Best Player in the World at the 2007 FIFA World Player of the year Awards. On 12 December 2007, he was nominated for the 2007 African Footballer of the year, the third gear consecutive time he had been nominated. [ 42 ] He was runner-up to that class ‘s achiever, Frédéric Kanouté. On 22 July 2008, Essien signed a modern five-year hand with Chelsea, keeping him at the club until 2013. [ 43 ] He besides extended his compress on 12 March 2007. [ 44 ]
Essien in military action for Chelsea in 2010 It was feared Essien would miss the 2008–09 Premier League temper after sustaining front tooth cruciate ligament damage on 5 September while playing for Ghana. however, on 7 March 2009, he came on as a alternate in the second half of the FA Cup match against Coventry City. In his second catch bet on from the knee wound, Essien scored fair ahead half-time to give Chelsea a vital away finish against Juventus in the Champions League beginning knockout round. Chelsea went on the draw the match 2–2 and through to the quarter-finals 3–2 on aggregate. [ 45 ] He made his first league start from wound against Manchester City, scoring the lone goal in the pit. On 6 May 2009, Essien scored a arresting left-footed volley in the second gear leg of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona, a tie that Chelsea ultimately lost due to the aside goal rule. [ 46 ] The goal was late voted as Chelsea ‘s Goal of the Season by the clubhouse ‘s fans. In the 2009–10 Premier League season, Essien put in an excellent operation against Blackburn Rovers on 24 October 2009 and scored his beginning goal of the season with a swerving 35-yard shot on 52 minutes in a 5–0 victory at Stamford Bridge. He scored his first brace for Chelsea against Wolverhampton Wanderers with a header and a moo blastoff from outside the box and came close to completing his first hat-trick for the golf club with a flurry of second-half shots, one of which was tipped onto the bar by Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. Essien was injured on international duty during the 2010 African Nations Cup and missed the remainder of the English domestic season. On 4 June 2010, he signed a biennial elongation to his existing compress which would have kept him at the club until 2015. [ 47 ] Essien returned to action on 17 July 2010 in a friendly against Crystal Palace and scored the only goal of the match to give Chelsea the win. After missing the 2010 FIFA World Cup through injury, Essien had a brilliantly start to the season for Chelsea. He scored the only goal in a pre-season friendly succeed against Crystal Palace and was an ever-present in Chelsea ‘s unbeaten calendar month of August. He scored a brace against West Ham United, and he scored against MŠK Žilina in the UEFA Champions League. Essien besides put in impressive performances against Marseille, Blackburn Rovers and Fulham, the latter a match in which he scored the entirely goal and received a red calling card. however, Essien would again incur an injury and missed two months of the season, during which Chelsea won merely one out of nine matches. He returned to score in the penalty shoot-out passing in the FA Cup against Everton but ultimately had a poor moment half of the season. After Chelsea ‘s final match, the Ghana Football Association announced Essien had returned to the external police squad. In pre-season train for the 2011–12 Premier League season, Essien ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, undergoing surgery on 11 July 2011. His convalescence was said to take up to six months. [ 48 ] however, he began training lightly in late November 2011 and made his comeback on 9 January 2012, playing 75 minutes of the reserves ‘ 3–2 frustration to West Bromwich Albion. [ 49 ] He made his hundred-and-fiftieth Premier League appearance for Chelsea as a stand-in in a 1–0 acquire over Sunderland. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] On 21 January 2012, Essien featured as recently substitute in Chelsea ‘s 0–0 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road. due to missing most of the beginning half of the 2011–12 Premier League season, Essien was unable to gain party favor with director André Villas-Boas. On 21 February 2012, during a Champions League match against Napoli, Villas-Boas left Frank Lampard, Essien and Ashley Cole on the substitutes ‘ judiciary. Chelsea lost 3–1 and the club ‘s technical conductor asked for an explanation of the team excerpt on behalf of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. [ 52 ] On 4 March 2012, following a 1–0 league get the better of against West Brom which left Chelsea three points adrift of Arsenal in the conflict for fourth stead in the Premier League, Villas-Boas ‘ employment was terminated by Chelsea, with assistant coach Roberto Di Matteo being appointed as caretaker director on an interim footing until the goal of the season. Di Matteo immediately showed favor towards veteran Chelsea players like Essien, Lampard and John Terry. Subsequently, Essien started in Chelsea ‘s second stage champions league fastness against Napoli, with Chelsea winning 4–1 – and 5–4 on aggregate – in an entertaining match allowing Chelsea to advance to the quarter-final, where they met Benfica. Essien subsequently remained an unused substitute in Chelsea ‘s Champions League function, culminating in the Blues’ victory over Bayern Munich in the final examination, making Chelsea the first gear London -based club to win the title.
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real number Madrid ( loan ) [edit ]
On 31 August 2012, Essien signed a season-long loan deal with Real Madrid, reuniting him with his former director at Chelsea, José Mourinho. [ 53 ] At his introductory crusade conference with Real Madrid, Mourinho affectionally referred to Essien as “ his son ” while Essien referred to Mourinho as his “ Daddy ”. On 3 November, Essien scored his first goal for real Madrid. During the last equal of the temper – and Essien ‘s stopping point game as a Madrid player – Essien scored his moment goal for Madrid, which he dedicated to Mourinho .
milan [edit ]
Essien signed for italian baseball club Milan on a one-and-a-half-year narrow on 27 January 2014. [ 54 ]
Panathinaikos [edit ]
On 2 June 2015, Essien signed a biennial contract with Greek clubhouse Panathinaikos. [ 55 ] The deal made him the club ‘s highest-paid player, with an annual wage of €800,000. [ 56 ] He spent the first three months of the season recovering from a branch injury. He was ascribable to make his debut on 21 November 2015 against Panathinaikos ‘ archrivals Olympiacos, but the match was cancelled. He played his inaugural match one week belated. On 24 January 2016, he scored his first finish for Panathinaikos in a 2–0 away league win over Levadiakos. [ 57 ] After a season in Greece, Essien was omitted from Panathinaikos ‘ team for the 2016–17 season, with the anticipation he would be released from his contract. [ 56 ] His termination by the club was confirmed about three months former after the two parties reached a common agreement over his unblock. [ 58 ] After the agreement was reached and Essien was released from his contract, the cabaret failed to remit the money owed to him and Essien appealed to the competent court for football affairs in Greece, which ordered Panathinaikos to pay him the great sum of about €36,000 or face the deduction of three points in the coming 2018/19 rival. [ 59 ]
Persib Bandung [edit ]
Essien rejected an offer from australian A-League club Melbourne Victory in September 2016. [ 60 ] On 13 March 2017, Essien joined the indonesian club side Persib Bandung, signing a annual abridge with an choice to extend for an extra year. He took the number 5 shirt for the 2017 Liga 1 season, the same number he wore during his nine years at Chelsea. Speaking about his move to Indonesia, Essien told the club ‘s official web site, “ I hope I am the prelude to other earth players moving to Indonesia. ” [ 61 ] [ 62 ] On 22 April, he scored his first finish from the heading in a 2–2 draw over PS TNI. [ 63 ] On 17 March 2018, Persib ‘s clubhouse foreman executive, Zainuri Hasyim said that Persib has now released Essien because the golf club already filling their maximal quota of four extraneous players based on the PSSI ‘s regulation. [ 64 ]
Sabail [edit ]
On 16 March 2019, Essien signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Sabail FK of the Azerbaijan Premier League, which will besides see him coach their U19 team. [ 65 ] [ 66 ]
International career [edit ]
Essien ‘s international career started with the Ghana under-17 national team, the Black Starlets when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand and won the bronze decoration. In 2001, despite being one of the youngest players in the tournament, Essien participated in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Black Satellites in Argentina, where the nation finished runner-up to Argentina. His exceeding performances captured the attention of many and was widely tipped to be one of Africa ‘s adjacent rise stars. Essien made his competitive senior introduction in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations against Morocco on 21 January 2002. [ 67 ] but had played for Ghana in a pre-tournament friendly against Egypt on 4 January 2002. [ 68 ] On 16 May 2006, Essien was selected to be part of the team that represented Ghana at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played in midfield with team captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari. Essien played in Ghana ‘s 0–2 get the better of to Italy, their 2–0 victory over the Czech Republic, and the 2–1 victory over the United States, and helped Ghana become the merely African team to reach the second-round of the 2006 World Cup. however, he was suspended for Ghana ‘s second round match against Brazil and could only watch as Ghana lost 0–3. Upon the team ‘s return to Ghana, Essien said the team had gained invaluable have and would be aiming to make the adjacent finals, held in Africa for the first base clock time in the tournament ‘s history at the 2010 World Cup. In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Essien turned in another strong operation, driving the team to the semifinals with his power-packed performances. In the quarter-final against Nigeria, when team captain John Mensah was dismissed on the stroke of the hour for a professional foul on Nigeria ‘s Peter Odemwingie, Essien assumed the captainship for the remainder of the match as Ghana finally won 2–1. He was voted as an All-Star Player during the tournament. The team of the Tournament was decided by the Technical Study Group ( TSG ) after careful observations of all the tournament ‘s matches. [ 69 ] During an international equal played against Libya on 5 September 2008, Essien ruptured his front tooth cruciate ligament playing for Ghana in the World Cup qualification degree and was out of action for six months, missing the majority of the 2008–09 season, before returning on 4 March to play for Chelsea Reserves against Aston Villa Reserves. He scored the last finish in the 4–3 personnel casualty. He still managed to take part in 10 of Ghana ‘s 11 qualification matches, amassing more than 800 minutes of game time as Ghana finished at the top of their group to seal qualification to the 2010 World Cup. [ 70 ] however, it was announced on 27 May 2010 that Essien would miss the World Cup after he was told he would not fully recover from his knee injury until the conclusion of July, more than two weeks after the tournament was to end. [ 71 ] Since then, Essien has announced that he will be standing down from the Ghana national side for the near future to focus on his career with Chelsea, having suffered two significant injuries while playing for Ghana in late years. [ 72 ] Having recovered from those injuries, Essien subsequently promised his handiness to his nation “ identical soon ”. [ 73 ] Essien returned to Ghana ‘s team in August 2013 for the team ‘s final 2014 World Cup qualifiers. [ 74 ] He appeared as a second-half ersatz in a 2–1 frustration of Zambia as the Black Stars secured qualification to the final rung. [ 75 ] He started in both play-off matches against Egypt and was named in Ghana ‘s squad for the tournament finals. [ 76 ] He made one appearance, coming on as a second-half alternate in the open 2–1 defeat to the United States. [ 77 ] In July 2018, Essien has announced his retirement from external football, after over 12 years of active service with Ghana. He said that he even retired before the 2014 FIFA World Cup but he was called back by former Ghana bus, James Kwesi Appiah to come and help the team. [ 78 ]
Coaching career [edit ]
FC Nordsjælland [edit ]
On 19 August 2020 it was revealed, that Essien was training with Danish Superliga baseball club FC Nordsjælland where he besides got the opportunity to be function of the work around the Superliga team and several of the cabaret ‘s academy teams, barely as he got a better cognition of the teach and development of young people off the sphere in FCN, as inspiration for his ongoing coaching education. [ 79 ] Nordsjælland is in partnership with Right to Dream Academy in Ghana, which was why Essien found the project concern. however, the clubhouse confirmed on 9 September 2020, that they had affiliated with Essien as separate of the club ‘s coach team for the 2020-2021 season. [ 80 ] He would frankincense be separate of the coach team in an adjunct function at the lapp meter, participating in the train sessions to implement the exercises in the best possible way and able to contribute with new input to the coaching team ‘s evaluations .
style of play [edit ]
Essien was a physically strong midfielder, who much played in a central midfield function. [ 81 ] He was much touted as a box-to-box midfielder for his ability to exert energy in supporting both offensive and defensive bid, and for his knock-down and baffling tackle dally style, which has earned him the nickname “ The Bison ”. [ 82 ] Essien can besides play as a defender, both on the right of defense and in the concentrate. In addition to his work-rate, animalism, and defensive skills, Essien besides possessed estimable proficiency, imagination, tactical intelligence, and leadership qualities, [ 81 ] and was a herculean striker of the ball from outdistance. [ 83 ]
career statistics [edit ]
club [edit ]
[ 84 ] [ 85 ] [ 86 ] [ 87 ]
International [edit ]
Appearances and goals by national team and year[88]
National team
Year
Apps
Goals
Ghana
2002
4
0
2003
2
0
2004
5
1
2005
3
2
2006
11
2
2007
6
0
2008
12
3
2009
8
1
2010
1
0
2011
1
0
2012
0
0
2013
3
0
2014
3
0
Total
59
9
Honours [edit ]
baseball club [edit ]
Lyon [ 89 ]
Chelsea [ 89 ]
International [edit ]
Ghana
Individual