Michael Essien, Date of Birth, Place of Birth
TweetMichael Essien
Ghanaian association football player
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Accra, Greater Accra Region, Ghana
About Michael Essien
- Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is 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 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 stint 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 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 League Cup.
- He won the UEFA Champions League in 2012, while also placing as runner up in the 2008 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 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.
Read more at Wikipedia