Former Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has made an astonishing revelation of how he landed at Chelsea over a decade ago.
The ex-Chelsea midfielder revealed that, it was an afternoon with former teammate Florent Malouda, when they were having a barbecue that everything unfolded.
A move that will later changed his life, and make him a legend with the London club.
‘The whole thing came about one afternoon while I was at Florent Malouda’s house, having a barbecue,’ he told Chelseafc.com. Malouda was at Lyon with him.
‘He got a call from Didier Drogba asking about me, and he said, “Oh, Michael is right here.” He put him on the phone to me and that’s how everything started.
‘It was a very long saga, that transfer, and very frustrating that it took so long because I really wanted to come to the Premier League. In the end we managed to come to an agreement and I was really excited when I first walked into the club at Chelsea.
‘As I said, it was my dream to play in the Premier League and Chelsea showed a very big interest in me, so when the deal went through I was very happy. I came in and everything went well.
The midfielder also spoke about his former team, Olympique Lyonnais, a club he left for Chelsea in 2004.
‘I had two or three years with Lyon and it was good, I enjoyed myself and I still have some friends there,’ adds Essien.
‘It was good for my career. Lyon is one of the biggest clubs in France and I remember when they came in for me, I just said yes straight away. I kept developing there and I got a big move to Chelsea.’
Essien says both clubs remain close to his heart, especially Chelsea where he played for nearly a decade and won so much silverware, including the Champions League in 2012. He is currently back at Cobham maintaining his fitness in case a chance to continue his playing career arises. ‘It feels like I’ve never gone!’ he laughs.