Michael Essien is a Ghanaian international football player who currently features for the Premier League side Chelsea. He plays as a midfielder and is actually adept both as a defensive midfielder as well as an attacking midfielder. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder at times. Essien bears the nickname “The Bison”.

Michael Essien commenced his footballing career at a native Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals FC and moved to French side Bastia in the summer of 2000. He played 65 league matches in three seasons at Bastia and scored 11 goals.

In the summer of 2003 French powerhouse Lyon signed Essien from Bastia for 7.8 million euros. He was mainly deployed as a defensive midfielder at Lyon and was one of the best players in the French Ligue 1 during his stay with Lyon. He was voted as the 2005 Player of the Year by UNFP.

In the summer of 2005 Chelsea signed Essien from Lyon for 24 million pounds and is currently the second most expensive signing for the club. He soon settled himself into the Chelsea midfield first as a defensive midfielder but then became more of an open player as his versatility started to attract attention. He won the BBC African Footballer of the Year award in 2006.

Michael Essien made his international debut for Ghana in 2002 and played at the 2006 World Cup for his nation and was their best player in the competition. He has played 42 matches for his nation and has scored 8 goals.