Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and is currently a member of Danish Superliga club Nordsjælland's coaching staff. He was also capped for the Ghana national team more than 50 times. During his prime, Essien was considered one of the best midfielders in the world. Essien was known not only for his defensive ability, but also his knack for scoring long-range goals.[4]
Essien started his career playing 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. In 2005, Essien signed with Premier League side Chelsea for a £24.4 million transfer fee and, at the time of his signing, was the most expensive African footballer in history.[5] At Chelsea, Essien helped the club win the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, as well as three FA Cups and one League Cup. He won the UEFA Champions League in 2011–12,[6] while also placing as runner-up in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. He has won the Chelsea Goal of the Season award twice, in the 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons.
Essien is a former Ghanaian international. At youth level, he represented his country at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, with the latter team finishing as runner-up. Essien made his senior team debut in January 2002 and has represented his nation at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Essien has also represented Ghana at the 2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
^Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
^"Michael Essien". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
^"Michael Essien". Panathinaikos F.C. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016.
^Thomas, Blake. "Ranking the Top 10 Midfielders in World Football: Xavi, Iniesta, Sneijder..." Bleacher Report. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
^Vickers, Steve (2007). "Michael Essien". BBC World Service. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
^"Michael Essien makes Chelsea title prediction under Thomas Tuchel". Citi Sports Online. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and is currently a member of Danish...
Loick Essien (born 1990), British musician MichaelEssien (born 1982), Ghanaian former footballer, currently coaching FC Nordsjælland. Nduese Essien (born...
notably including Dragan Džajić, Claude Papi, Johnny Rep, Roger Milla, MichaelEssien, Alex Song, Sébastien Squillaci, Jérôme Rothen, Antar Yahia and Florian...
he competed with players such as Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Claude Makélélé, and MichaelEssien for playing time in central midfield. He moved to...
in, Toffees captain Phil Neville was booked. Chelsea replaced MichaelEssien with Michael Ballack in the 61st minute, followed two minutes later by a yellow...
Year for the first time, ahead of Samuel Eto'o and Chelsea teammate MichaelEssien. His performances during the season saw him named in the PFA Premier...
Drogba Chelsea 106 3rd MichaelEssien Chelsea 50 2006 1st Didier Drogba Chelsea 79 2nd Samuel Eto'o Barcelona 76 3rd MichaelEssien Chelsea 36 2007 1st Frédéric...
Terry and Ramires, who had both missed the final due to suspension, and MichaelEssien, who was an unused substitute in 2012. Gianfranco Zola, Jody Morris...
Sumner, a WAGs Boutique participant whose supposed relationship with MichaelEssien was the subject of some doubt, as "fake WAGs". As if to emphasise the...
left wing, where he was pitted against makeshift Chelsea right-back MichaelEssien. This went against the prediction of The Guardian's David Pleat, who...
a ten-month contract, he was reunited with former Chelsea teammate MichaelEssien. Cole only played twice as a starter from his five appearances without...
nominees for the honour were Chelsea and Ghana international midfielder MichaelEssien, and Nigeria and Portsmouth striker Nwankwo Kanu, who previously won...
Portugal 13 21 Ruud van Nistelrooy Manchester United Netherlands 11 21= MichaelEssien Lyon Chelsea Ghana 11 23 Raúl Real Madrid Spain 8 23= Pavel Nedvěd Juventus...
Manchester United 14 Miroslav Klose 21 Werder Bremen Bayern Munich 15 MichaelEssien 20 Chelsea 16 Juan Román Riquelme 19 Boca Juniors Villarreal 17 Petr...
formation used previously at Milan, often with MichaelEssien or Mikel John Obi in the defensive role, Michael Ballack or Frank Lampard as box to box midfielders...
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