By Marco Credentino
It was not too long ago Michael Essien was billed as the most complete midfielder in the world after becoming a central fixture in Jose Mourinho’s dominant Chelsea side in the Portuguese’s first trophy laden tenure as Blues coach.
After earning a big money move from French side Lyon in 2005, Essien lived up to his billing as one of the top box to box midfielders in world football. He was a driving force from midfield – Chelsea’s very own Steven Gerrard – a player that could grab a game by the scruff of the neck and carry them to victory almost single-handedly.
It’s a shame injuries can play such a huge part in a players career. Essien has suffered the misfortune of suffering two separate anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in his career. One in 2008 while representing Ghana on international duty, and the other during pre-season training in the build up to the 2011/2012 season.
ACL injuries of course can rule a player out of action from anywhere between six to eight months, and have a massive toll on the players body and mentality. Players that suffer this horrific injury rarely come back the same player as before, and for Essien to keep playing after two of those deserve immense credit for his determination and resolve, where most in his position would have hung up the boots.
For a player whose role on the pitch relies on his ability to charge up and down the field at 100 kilometers an hour, and depends on his physicality to stamp his authority on matches – sadly, these injuries have left the Ghanaian as a shadow of the player he once was. No longer does he crash into tackles with his trademark tenacity as his knees can’t handle the previous commitment and unyielding work rate that made him synonymous with the box to box role.
His injury setbacks have no doubt deprived Essien of his previous physical attributes that made him such a nightmare for opposition players.
So why would AC Milan chase a player who has been so out of form and out of shape for the best part of five years now. Well, that’s just it. Trying to understand Milan’s transfer policy is like trying to play golf during an earthquake. It’s impossible and implausible. The clubs signings in the last two few years have been generally poor, with no real direction or objective to who they target.
Signing promising young Italians are always an attractive proposition for big clubs on the peninsula, but you have to offer them guarantees of first team football, if not at the club, then on loan elsewhere. Riccardo Saponara is a good case in point, instead of flourishing out on the paddock expressing himself; he’s been largely warming the San Siro bench this season.
Signings such as Bakaye Traore, Francesco Acerbi, Bojan Krkic, Christian Zaccardo, Bartosz Salamon last season, and Matias Silvestre and Alessandro Matri this season have all been examples of buys that lack any sort of purpose. Director Adriano Galliani can point to the success of Mario Balotelli, Stephen El Shaarawy and Kaka (to a degree), but they’ve only really made a handful of good signings in the past few years, with the bad far outweighing the good.
So which category does Michael Essien look like falling into? Well, in his four matches so far he’s played in since signing for Milan; they’ve lost three of them. That should tell you what you need to know. His signing will definitely not improve the side, and there must have been a reason why Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho would be willing to let him leave on a free transfer.
If Milan wants to return to the pinnacle of Italian football, then they really shouldn’t be targeting other clubs rejects. They’re a club that deserves to purchase players that are playing well and deserving of a move to a bigger side, not signing has-beens that can no longer influence a match.
Milan were possibly hoping that the slower pace of the Serie A meant that Essien’s deficiencies were easier to hide than in the frenetic pace that the English Premier League is known for, but his form has not improved. He is no longer forced to charge forward and join the attack at Milan, but is expected to hold
his michael essien milan napoliposition and offer some extra security for what has been a shaky defensive unit this season. Even simplifying his role with less responsibility has failed to get a good response from the Ghanian. Former AC Milan legend Zvonimir Boban put it convincingly when he said that signing Essien was a blunder.
“It was a mistake. They don’t need him. He hasn’t played much recently and there is a reason for that. He is nowhere near the first Essien we saw at Chelsea.†– Zvonimir Boban, 2014
In their central midfield department they had enough depth already, without needing the acquisition of Essien. Nigel de Jong, Riccardo Montolivo and Keisuke Honda are good enough to start, while Sulley Muntari, Andrea Poli and the young Bryan Cristante offer sufficient backup.
If they really did need another central midfielder, than they could’ve kept Antonio Nocerino instead of loaning him out to West Ham, where not only would he have done the same (if not better) job as Essien, but his salary would have definitely been lower than Essien’s reported €3 million per season salary. The club could’ve saved some money there and put towards permanently signing two players that have made a positive impact since joining, loan pair Adel Taarabt (QPR) and Adil Rami (Valencia).
If it was a matter of signing Essien five years ago, Milan would be making a fantastic move. Sadly, this Essien is barely at a third of his peak, and his usefulness on the field has run its course. This move is emblematic of how Milan now operates in the transfer window these days, and it is no wonder why they lie outside the top ten with only a third of the season remaining.
While it is only early in his Milan career and there is still plenty of time to prove the detractors wrong, the signs have been there for a while that this is a player steadily on the wane.