Michael Essien, born 3 December 1982 in Accra, began with Liberty Professionals before moving to Bastia in 2000, where he played over 60 matches across three seasons. Lyon signed him in 2003; he won back-to-back Ligue 1 titles and was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2005. That summer Chelsea paid £24.4 million for him, making him the most expensive African footballer at the time. At Chelsea he won the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, three FA Cups, a League Cup and the 2011–12 Champions League, and twice took the club’s Goal of the Season award. He won more than 50 caps for Ghana.
There are only a handful of items here, and every one of them is Chelsea, numbered 5. The seasons are tightly grouped between 2005–06 and 2009–10, so nothing from Bastia, Lyon, Real Madrid or his later clubs appears.
Several items are marked Chelsea Centenary. That is the 2005–06 kit produced for the club’s hundredth anniversary, a distinct design rather than an ordinary home shirt, and it happens to be Essien’s first season at Stamford Bridge. Home shirts make up most of the rest. Condition grades run from 4/10 to 9/10 and most items sit around 8/10, which is high for shirts of this age. Sizes include youth as well as adult.
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