Essien, Michael

 Michael Essien is a star player for the Ghanaian national football team (‘Black Stars’), and for the English football team Chelsea FC, in the Barclays English Premier League.

 Michael Essien, superstar Ghanaian footballer (2007)

As an individual, Essien is one of the most influential Ghanaians on the world stage, and in terms of his international profile, is probably only second to Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations as the most internationally well-known Ghanaian identity.

Furthermore, Essien is an icon and a hero to many Ghanaians, and his 2005 transfer to Chelsea FC has led many Ghanaians to switch or share their football allegiances in the Barclays English Premier League. Essien has also been influential at international level, and due to his player status, he carries much of Ghana’s aspirations on the World football stage on his shoulders.

Born on the 3rd of December 1982, in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, Essien played all of his junior soccer in Accra, even making his first television appearance in an under-12 match for the junior national side. Completing his secondary schooling at Saint Augustine’s College in 1998, Essien’s first true appearance on the world football stage occurred in 1999, during his spell with Liberty Professionals FC. Part of Ghana’s defensive unit in the victorious team for the 1999 African Under-17 Championship, Essien in turn earned his place in the FIFA World Under-17 Championship line-up which toured New Zealand.

In a rare picture from his days at Liberty Professionals FC, a young Michael Essien makes a pass at the Accra Sports Stadium, circa 2000. 

(Kindly donated & with permission of Liberty Professionals FC)

During the tournament, Ghana reached the semi-final, before being defeated by Brazil in a penalty shootout. This saw Ghana make the third place playoff, which Ghana secured with a 2-0 win over the United States.

The success of Ghana’s 1999 Under-17 national team in New Zealand attracted the attention of European football scouts, and Essien found himself in a trial spell with football heavyweights, Manchester United FC. Unable to impress MUFC, he declined an offer to join one of their partnership clubs, Royal Antwerp FC of Belgium, which has long been a club in which MUFC recruits have developed league experience.

Declining this offer, Essien struggled to gain a contract. Eventually, his manager persuaded a French Ligue 2 side, Sporting Club de Bastia, in northern Corsica, to sign Essien, and he debuted for the side in July 2000, making 13 league appearances in the 2000/01 Ligue 2 season, and 24 league appearances in the 2001/02 season.

 Essien on signing for French Ligue 2 side, SC Bastia (2000)

In 2002, SC Bastia made the final of the Coupe de France (French cup tournament), before being beaten by FC Lorient 0-1 at the Stade de France. Essien played out the entire game in a midfield role.

However, during these two seasons, Essien was very much a fringe player, and for the most part, played the role of a defender or defensive midfielder.

Essien’s breakthrough season occurred in the 2002/03 Ligue 2 season. When injury struck SC Bastia’s regular central midfielder, Essien was made the temporary replacement. Essien excelled in the role, playing 29 matches, and scoring 6 goals, demonstrating a strong tackling skills and a powerful physical presence. While his on-field discipline was sometimes questionable after receiving 13 yellow cards & 1 red card during the season, there was no question that he was a rising star in football circles.

In the off-season transfer window in mid 2003, interest in Essien came primarily from French Ligue 1 sides Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, and Olympique de Marseille (France), as well as Liverpool FC & Everton FC (England), who all made transfer bids, while Manchester United FC also monitored the progress of their former trial player.

SC Bastia accepted the highest bid for Essien, which was a deal worth £6 million offered by Paris Saint-Germain, who had seen him as a natural replacement for Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who had been sold by PSG to FC Barcelona (Spain) during the transfer period. Essien appeared to be headed for the French capital, however, Essien himself rejected the move, as PSG had not qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the 2003/04 tournament. This led to the SC Bastia accepting an offer of £5.2million from Olympique Lyonnais, who had qualified for the UEFA Champions League in the upcoming football season.

Michael Essien in UEFA Champions League action for Olympique Lyonnais (2003/04) 

Essien played for Olympique Lyonnais for two successful seasons, which saw them extend their number of consecutive league titles to 3 & 4, receiving the Vainqueur du Trophée des champions (French Ligue 1 premier’s medallion) in the 2003/04 & 2004/05 for his appearances in Olympique Lyonnais’ victorious Ligue 1 seasons.

During the 2003/04 season, Essien played 34 Ligue 1 matches for Olympique Lyonnais, scoring 3 goals. In addition, he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League tournament, playing in 8 matches.

During the 2004/05 season, Essien had his most successful season to date, making 37 Ligue 1 appearances for Olympique Lyonnais, and scoring 4 goals. He also built on his UEFA Champions League experience, making 10 appearances and scoring 5 goals, with Olympique Lyonnais reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament.

He had earned the nickname “the Bison” at Olympique Lyonnais, although he is also commonly known as “the Buffalo”.

Furthermore, Essien was voted the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP) player of the year for the 2004/05 Ligue 1 season, and finished 3rd in the Confédération Africaine de Football player of the year awards.

 Star Ghanaian international footballer, Michael Essien (Date Unknown)

In the meantime, Chelsea FC had been purchased by Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, in 2003, and had been highly active on the transfer market, attempting to capture some of the highest profile players in football, including Hernán Crespo & Frank Lampard.

During the off-season transfer window in 2005, speculation was rife that Essien was one of many players targeted by Chelsea FC. Manchester United FC, who once discarded Essien in a trial period, were once again keen to obtain his services, as were the Spanish Primera Liga giants, Real Madrid CF.

A protracted, and often heated, chase to obtain Essien’s signature ensued. For two months, a sometimes-bitter transfer saga saw Chelsea FC’s consecutive bids of £10m, £16.75m, £18m, £21m, and £21m plus Tiago Mendes, a Portuguese midfielder. All of these offers were rejected by Olympique Lyonnais, who initially called for a successful transfer fee of no less than £31million.

A war of words developed between Olympique Lyonnais President, Jean-Michel Aulas, and Chelsea FC President, Peter Kenyon. At the height of the saga, Aulas commented bitterly after rejecting another Chelsea FC bid, “England have won the Olympics, but Chelsea will not get Michael Essien. They thought we were just country bumpkins with our berets & a baguette in our pockets. That is not the way things work at Lyon."

Finally, the two parties agreed to a deal just prior to the transfer deadline, after Essien, who had become set on the transfer to Chelsea FC, threatened to go on strike in protest. A five-year deal worth a massive £26million was signed on the 19th of August 2006, then Chelsea FC’s highest transfer (and currently only surpassed by Chelsea FC’s signing of Andriy Shevchenko in May 2006 for a record English transfer fee of £30million).

Essien is unveiled at Stamford Bridge, displaying his No. 5 jersey (2005)

Essien was unveiled at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge, taking the Number 5 jersey, which he wore in his Chelsea FC debut on the 21st of August 2006, when he substituted striker Eiður Guðjohnsen (Eidur Gudjohnsen) in the 58th minute of the match against London rivals, Arsenal FC, which finished in a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

In the 2005/06 Barclays English Premier League season, Essien played 31 games for Chelsea FC, scoring 2 goals, as Chelsea FC achieved their second-successive league crown. He also made 6 UEFA Champions League appearances, as Chelsea FC progressed to the First Knockout Stage, before being eliminated by FC Barcelona.

During his first season, Essien cemented his place in Chelsea FC’s midfield, and also stood in for Claude Makélélé in the defensive midfield role when Makélélé suffered an injury. Essien drew some criticism for some crunching tackles in the Barclays English Premier League, and although he did not receive any red cards during the domestic season, he was suspended by UEFA for two matches, following a horror-challenge on Liverpool FC’s Dietmar Hamann in the first round of the First Knockout Stage against FC Barcelona, an event in which he later publicly apologized to Hamann.  However, one month later, Essien himself the victim of a challenge by West Ham United FC captain, Nigel Reo-Coker, from which he left the field on a stretcher, and was sidelined due to injury for 3 weeks.

In the 2006/07 Barclays English Premier League season, Essien played 33 games in his second season at Chelsea FC, again scoring 2 goals, as Chelsea FC finished second in the domestic league behind Manchester United FC. Additionally, he made 10 UEFA Champions League appearances, scoring a further 2 goals, as Chelsea FC progressed to the Semi-Final stage, before being eliminated by Liverpool FC in a penalty shootout.

Essien also received further accolades courtesy of Chelsea FC’s FA Cup & Carling Cup victories during 2006/07. Playing at centre-back alongside Chelsea FC captain John Terry, Essien was in the starting lineup for the FA Cup Final on the 19th of May 2007. Chelsea FC were victorious against rivals Manchester United FC at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, courtesy of a goal in the 116th minute (second half of extra time) by the Côte d'Ivoire striker, Didier Drogba.

This triumph followed Chelsea FC’s success from the 25th of February 2007, when the club were victorious against Arsenal FC in the 2007 Carling Cup, played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Essien was in Chelsea FC’s starting lineup, and received a yellow card in the 36th minute of the match. While Arsenal FC got a 12th minute lead courtesy of young striker Theo Walcott, Didier Drogba leveled the score with an equalizer in the 20th minute, before securing victory for Chelsea FC with another strike in the 84th minute.

The 2006/07 season also saw Essien voted Chelsea FC’s Player of the Year, while he was also credited with Chelsea FC’s Goal of the Year, courtesy of his 83rd minute wonder-strike to level the score against Arsenal FC in the Barclay’s English Premier League home match on the 10th of December 2006 at Stamford Bridge. Set up by Chelsea FC star midfielder, Frank Lampard, Essien lashed the ball from outside the crowded penalty box into the top left corner of the net, narrowly beating the diving Arsenal FC goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, and sending the Stamford Bridge crowd into raptures.

Essien’s on-field success was only marred by an off-field incident in the early hours of the 23rd of April 2007, when he was stopped by police in south London while returning home from a nightclub, and was found to be over the legal blood-alcohol limit. His spokeswoman released a statement over the incident, which stated "Michael is a responsible person who would never drive if he thought he would be impaired by alcohol."

Michael Essien during a pre-season tournament in the United States (July 2007)

During the 2007/08, Essien has started in the majority of Chelsea FC’s matches in the Barclays English Premier League, Carling Cup, UEFA Champions League, and also the FA Community Shield match played on the 5th of August 2007. As from the 30th of December 2007, he had started in 22 of Chelsea FC’s matches, and had entered games as a substitute in 2 matches. He has scored 3 goals, all in the Barclays English Premier League.