Michael Essien Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (sometimes written in French: Michaël Essien) (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian professional footballer. 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 also played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. During his five-year
Michael Essien September 2016. On 13 March 2017, Essien joined the Indonesian club side Persib Bandung, signing a one-year contract with an option to extend for an additional year. He took the number 5 shirt for the 2017 Liga 1 season, the same number he wore during his nine years at Chelsea. Speaking about his move to Indonesia, Essien told the club's official website, "I hope I am the prelude to other world players moving to Indonesia." On 22 April, he scored his first goal from the header in a 2–2 draw over PS TNI. On 17 March 2018, Persib's club chief