What if we tell you that Michael Essien might have been a Burnley player if the club were ready to pay him £ 60 a week?
Not £ 60,000. Only £ 60. This is not a typo.
3
Essien will be remembered for a glorious Chelsea career, which established him as one of the great midfielder of his time.
During his time, the Ghanaian superstar won two titles of the Premier League, One Champions League, four FA Cups and a league cup during his time.
When he left in 2014, the £ 24.4 million, which Lyon was under contract in 2005, was considered bargain.
But Burnley exchanged the opportunity to sign it free of charge six years earlier.
In 1999, Essien had just played for the youth team in Ghanas at the U17 World Cup, where they were eliminated in punishments in the semi-finals of Brazil.
He impressed in court with the Clarets, which were in the third stage of English football this summer, but a bizarre club rule meant that they could not snap it up.
In 2009, the former chairman of Burnley, Brendan Flood, said in the people: “I found that Michael Essien had put on trial here for a few days.
“One of the best players at the World Cup – and we hadn’t signed him.
“Club policy meant that we would not pay any apprentice more than 60 pounds per week.
“It hit me in the face that the problem was a lack of communication within the association that prevented our young people from making an exception to the rule.”
3
Instead, Essien joined the French Club Bastia and then Lyon, where he rose to be known.
Until 2005, the midfielder had two titles 1 and the French top player of the-Year Prize for his name when he went to Chelsea at that time.
In the following campaign, the 23-year-old Essien won the club’s Player of the Season Award to John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
In the end, at Chelsea, he earned around £ 100,000 a week, only a cool 96,940 pounds more to pay than Burnley.
Nowadays, essien is part of the coaching team of the Danish club North Sjæland.
Talk sports met the 42-year-old during his appearance at Soccer Aid last year.
3
Essien delivered the Ghanaian compatriot Mohammed Kudus, who increases increasing transmission speculation this summer.
Tottenham has her £ 50 million last week. -Mature submitted for Kudus, but it was quickly rejected.
The 24-year-old has made it clear that he would like to make the transition from east to Nordlondon, but West Ham hopes for a competitive offer from Chelsea.
When asked how he rated Kudus, Essien said: “Very high, very high.
“He has everything to be at the top, he is a good footballer – he has everything to be a top, top, player.”
Take a look at the entire FIFA Club World Championship on DAZN free of charge. Register now so that you do not miss an action.
*If you click on a DAZN link in this article