Michael Essien Rovers and Fulham, the latter a match in which he scored the only goal and received a red card. However, Essien would again incur an injury and missed two months of the season, during which Chelsea won just one out of nine matches. He returned to score in the penalty shoot-out loss in the FA Cup against Everton but ultimately had a poor second half of the season. After Chelsea's final match, the Ghana Football Association announced Essien had returned to the international squad. In pre-season training for the 2011–12 Premier League season, Essien ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and
Michael Essien £24.4 million fee for Essien, ending one of the longest-running transfer sagas. At the time, the fee made Essien Chelsea's most expensive signing of all-time, surpassing the £24 million Chelsea paid for Didier Drogba the previous summer. The transfer went through on 19 August. The transfer came under scrutiny in the Stevens inquiry report, which expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pini Zahavi and Barry Silkman. Essien made his debut as a second-half substitute against Arsenal on 21 August 2005, wearing the number 5 on his shirt. The match ended in a 1–0 victory to Chelsea.