Michael Kojo Essien was born on the 3rd December 1982, in Accra, Ghana and is a (soccer) footballer, playing in the position of midfielder. He is an extremely strong and enduring player, formidable in the duels, who also has a heavy shot. Essien has been active in the professional sports industry since 2000.
How much is the net worth of Michael Essien? It has been reported by authoritative sources that the overall size of his wealth is as much as $35 million, as of the data presented in the middle of 2017. Football is the major source of Essien’s fortune.
Michael Essien Net Worth $35 Million
To begin with, Essien pursued his career at a local club in his country, called Liberty Professionals, after graduating from St. Augustine College. He participated in the U-17 World Cup 1999 in New Zealand, where Ghana took 3rd place, and during which Essien attracted the attention of many European soccer scouts.
In July 2000, French club Bastia signed a contract with Essien, although he was trialled by Manchester United first. In Bastia, Essien never had a chance as a starter playing as a right-back, left-back or central defender. Then, due to the injury of one of his teammates, the club gave him the opportunity to play temporarily in the midfield, and Essien proved his ability to play in that position, soon being compared to Patrick Vieira for his style of play. In the 2002 – 2003 season, Bastia qualified for the UEFA Cup, scoring six goals. Two seasons were enough for the player to get signed by French league champions Olympic Lyonnaise in 2002, also being chased by Paris Saint-Germain.
In 2004, he obtained French nationality; he was named the Player of the Year by the UNFP in 2005, and after consecutive league titles with Lyons, he signed for English Premier League club Chelsea that year. In 2008 he won continental recognition by being named African Player of the Year, but suffered a serious injury during the season, which removed him from the field from September 2008 to March 2009. In 2012, Chelsea with Essien won the Champions League by beating Bayern Munich in the final, but then in the summer of 2012, the player signed by his former Chelsea coach José Mourinho on a one-year contract to play for Real Madrid.
Despite good performances, Real Madrid did not take the option to buy, and Essien returned to Chelsea at the end of the season. In the beginning of 2014, after having played only five games, AC Milan announced that Michael Essien would play for the Italian club until June of 2015. After having played 22 games with AC Milan, he signed with Panathinaikos, Greece, to continue his career. He played 13 matches and scored a goal. In the spring of 2017, he signed the contract with the Indonesian club of the Persib Bandung, in preference to Melbourne Victory, Australia.
Finally, in the personal life of Essien, he is married to Akosua Puni; the family has two children.
