BRIEF PROFILE OF MICHEAL ESSIEN

Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) currently playing for AC Milan. He is a midfielder who has often been touted as a box-to-box midfielder for his ability to exert energy in supporting offensive and defensive play and for his tough tackling style which has earned him the nickname "The Bison". Essien can also play as a defender, both on the right of defence and in the centre.

Essien began his career playing for Liberty Professionals just after completing St. Augustine Collage in Cape-Coast. In 2000, he moved to France joining Bastia. Essien spent three seasons at the club appearing in over 60 matches before joining league champions Olympique Lyonnais in 2003. During his five-year stint in France, he acquired French citizenship. In 2005, Essien signed with Chelsea for a fee of £24.4 million and, at the time of his signing, was the most expensive African footballer in history. At Chelsea, Essien helped the club win the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, as well as three FA Cups and one Football League Cup. In 2008, he appeared in the UEFA Champions League Final. He has won the Chelsea Goal of the season award twice, in the 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons.
On 15 May 2007, Chelsea fans voted Essien as Chelsea Player of the Year for his contributions in the 2006–07 season, becoming the first African to receive the honour. His late dramatic equalising goal against Arsenal was also voted as Chelsea Goal of the Season for 2006–07.

On 31 August 2012, Essien signed a season-long loan deal with Real Madrid, linking him up with José Mourinho, the manager who signed him for Chelsea.

Essien signed for Italian Serie A club Milan on a one-and-a-half-year contract on 27 January 2014. 

Essien was nominated for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year Award on 12 October 2006 where he placed 22nd. One week later, he was nominated for the 2006 Ballon d'Or. He was voted as the third Best African Footballer of the Year in 2006, a feat he achieved in 2005 as well. He won the 2006 BBC African footballer of the year award. On 10 October 2007, he was nominated for the prestigious 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year Award for the third consecutive year and on 21 October 2007 Essien was also nominated for the 2007 Ballon d'Or Award for the third consecutive year as well. He was voted 15th Best Player in the World at the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year Awards. On 12 December 2007, Essien was nominated for the 2007 African Footballer of the Year a third consecutive time he had been nominated. He was runner-up to that year's winner Frédéric Kanouté.

International career

Essien's international career started with the Ghana U-17 national team, the Black Starlets, when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 Championship in New Zealand and won the bronze medal. In 2001, even though he was one of the youngest players in the tournament, Essien took part in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Black Satellites in Argentina. The Satellites finished runners-up to hosts Argentina. His exceptional performance captured the attention of many and was widely tipped to be one of Africa's next rising stars. He made his competitive senior debut in the 2002 African Nations Cup against Morocco on 21 January 2002. But had played for Ghana in a Pre-Tournament friendly against Egypt on 4 January 2002.

On 16 May 2006, Essien was selected to be part of the team that represented Ghana at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and helped Ghana become the only African team to reach the second round of the 2006 World Cup. However, Essien was suspended for Ghana's second round match against Brazil and could only watch as Ghana lost 0–3. 

In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Essien turned in another brilliant performance, driving the team to the semi-finals 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 took over the captaincy for the rest of the game and eventually won 2–1. He was voted as an All-Star Player during the tournament. 

During an international match played against Libya on 5 September 2008 Essien ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Ghana in the World Cup qualification stage 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 goal in the 4–3 loss. He still managed to take part in 10 of Ghana's 11 qualification matches, clocking up more than 800 minutes of game time, as Ghana finished at the top of their group and sealed a spot at the World Cup. It was announced on 27 May 2010 that Essien would unfortunately miss the World Cup after he was told that he would not fully recover from his knee injury until the end of July, more than two weeks after the tournament had ended. Since then, Essien has announced that he will be standing down from the Ghanaian national side for the near future in order to focus on his career with Chelsea, having suffered two significant injuries whilst playing for Ghana in recent years.