Michael Kojo Essien born 3rd December 1982, was a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays for Sabail in the Azerbaijan Premier League, as a midfielder. He has also been capped for the Ghana National Team more than 50 times.
Essien started his career playing for Liberty Professionals in Ghana. In 2000, he moved to France to join Bastia, where he spent three seasons and appeared 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. During his five year stint in France, he acquired French citizenship. In 2005, Essien signed with Premier League side Chelsea 24.2 million euro transfer fee and, at the time of his signing, he was the most expensive African footballer in history.
At Chelsea, Essien helped the club with the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, as well as three FA Cups and one League Cup. He won the UEFA champions league in 2012, while also placing as runner up in 2008 UEFA Champions League.
Essien is a Ghanaian international Footballer. At his 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 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.
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