Michael Essien Returns Fit And Ready To Go

Michael Essien Returns Fit And Ready To Go

The Ghanian international was bought from Lyon back in 2005 by Jose Mourinho when he was in charge at Chelsea for the first time around. He cost them a massive £25 million at that time and arrived in England with high expectations, something which his strong shoulders could very well take.

However, his time at Stamford Bridge has not been as fruitful as he would have liked it to be. After starting his Chelsea career brightly, he has been marred by a string of injuries, majority of them on both his knees. He was sidelined for months at a time on multiple occasions. Every time it happened, he rehabilitated, recuperated, trained and made a return, only to be injured again. He found himself in the midst of a vicious circle.

Then came the season of 2012-2013, when he sealed a loan move to Real Madrid to reunite with his mentor Mourinho. It was Mourinho who brought Essien first to Chelsea, and then again it was he who revived his career at Madrid. Essien was used regularly, mostly in the starting 11 and was deployed literally across the back 4 and in midfield. He managed to put together 30 appearances for Madrid which was exactly what he was looking for.

Now that he is back at Chelsea, DailyMail reports that the 30-year old is fit, fine and is raring to go in the new season. He has been showing signs of returning to his best. His happiness of being 100% fit is showing, and his team-mates are delighted to see him smiling. Petr Cech said, “He seems to be back to the real Michael Essien,”

“He’s always been a fantastic player and the only unlucky things were the injuries. He’s back and if he stays fit then it will be great to have him.”

“That loan made sure he played more than he could have played and, as you can see, he’s happy, he’s back, he’s fit and he will be very useful for us.”

Hopefully we get to see the real Michael Essien all season long as Chelsea are a much better team with a fit Essien available.