Michael Kojo Essien or famously known as Michael Essien is a Ghanaian professional football player who plays as a midfielder for the Azerbaijan Premier League side Sabail FK. He has played for Top European football clubs, French club Lyon, English Premier League club, Chelsea FC, Spanish La Liga club, Real Madrid, Italian Serie A club, AC Milan and Indonesian football club, Persib Bandung previously.
He made his international debut for Ghana in 2002 and has played at African Cup of Nations in 2002-2008 and 2010 as well as FIFA World Cup in 2006 and 2014.
As of 2019, Michael Essien has an estimated net worth of $35 million, mostly earned through his soccer career.
His annual salary was around $ 1 million while playing for his current club of Persib Bandung and has a market worth in the region of £450,000 as of 2017 with his highest being £ 40.50 million in 2005. He used to receive an annual salary of $4.7 million while playing for Chelsea.
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Essien was paid the weekly wage of £70,000 in Real Madrid with the annual salary of £3.5 million. He had the yearly salary of £2.5 million while playing for AC Milan in 2014.
Essien and his wife Akosua Puni are also the owners of Italian Football Club Como. The couple bought the third division club for £206K in 2017.
He owns very luxurious houses in London and Ghana. His house in Cobham, United Kingdom was bought for $1.5 million and owns cars like BMW and Mercedes for riding.
Currently 35, he stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs around 85 kg. Talking about his personal life, he is a married man. He tied his knots with his wife, Akosua Puni Essien. His wife Akosua is a British citizen of Ghanian origin. She also owns a football club.
Michael Essien and his wife SOURCE: Ghanafuo.com The couple is blessed with two children, daughter, Michelle Essien, and son, Michael Essien jr. The pair is living a blissful life without any rumors of divorce or disputes.
As per some sources, his wife formerly dated Ghanian footballer Stephen Appiah.
Michael Essien is of Ghanian nationality having an African heritage. He was born on December 3, 1982, in Accra, Ghana. His mother's name is Aba Gyandoh, and father's name is James Essien.
He graduated from St Augustine College and started his junior playing career with the Ghanaian football club, Liberty Professionals in 1998.
He started his senior playing career with the French professional football club, SC Bastia in 2000 and made his debut against Metz on 30 September 2000.
Essien was later transferred to the fellow French club, Lyon for a reported transfer fee of €7.8 million in 2003. He made his debut against Auxerre on 27 July 2003 and scored his first goal for the club in the same match.
After becoming a prominent player, he was able to win the Ligue1 in 2003/04 and 2004/05 with the team
He later on signed with English Premier League club, Chelsea FC managed by Jose Mourinho in 2005 for a record transfer fee of £ 24.4 million eclipsing the previous record of £ 24 million for Didier Drogba in 2004.
The Ghanaian midfielder made his debut against Arsenal on 21 August 2005 and scored his first goal in Chelsea colors against Tottenham Hotspur on 11 March 2006.
He was the part of successful Chelsea squad that went to win Premier League in 2005/06, 2009/10 and UEFA Champions League in 2011/12.
Essien was also transferred to Spanish La Liga giants, Real Madrid led by Spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas for 2012 season. He then moved to Italy and signed a one and half year contract with Italian Serie A club, AC Milan on early 2014.
Essien signed a two-year contract with Greek football club, Panathinaikos FC on June 2015 and was the highest paid player for the club.
He scored his first goal against Levadiakos on 24 January 2016 and is currently playing for Indonesian football club, Persib Bandung with whom he signed a one-year contract in March 2017.
After playing at the FIFA U17 World Championship in 1999 and winning the bronze medal at the tournament, he made his senior international debut for Ghana against Morocco on 21 January 2002.
He went to play for Ghana at the major FIFA tournaments like FIFA World Cup in 2006 and 2014.
The Ghanaian midfielder before retiring in 2014 made 58 appearances and scored 9 goals for Ghana.
