Essien grateful to bday wishers

Ghana international, Michael Essien has expressed thanks to all who wished him well on December 3, 2015 when he turned 33 years.

“Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, much love and respect to you all. Jah guide and protections....One love always,” he said in an Instagram post.

The Panathinaikos midfielder received lots of well-wishing messages from his fans and colleague footballers including Black Star players Jonathan Mensah and Andre Ayew on his birthday and is grateful for the messages.

Essien, nicknamed ‘The Bison,’ started his career playing for Liberty Professionals. In 2000, he moved to French Ligue 1 side Bastia, where he spent three seasons and featured in more than 60 games before joining league champions Olympique Lyonnais in 2003.

At Lyon, Essien won back-to-back league titles in 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons.

In 2005, Essien signed for Chelsea for a fee of £24.4 million and, at the time of his signing, was the most expensive African footballer in history.

At Chelsea, Essien won the Premier League in 2006 and 2010, as well as three FA Cups and one Football League Cup.

In the 2006/07 and 2008/09 seasons, he won Chelsea’s Goal of the Season award.

He is one of few Ghanaian players to have played for a number of the world’s biggest football clubs. In 2012, he joined Spanish giants Real Madrid on loan where he re-joined his former coach Jose Mourinho.

In 2014, he joined Italian giants AC Milan. After an unsuccessful spell, Essien signed for Greek side Panathinaikos where he currently plays.

Back home, he represented Ghana at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Essien made his senior team debut in January 2002 and has played in three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and two World Cups, namely the 2006 and 2014 editions.

Essien has made 58 appearances for the Black Stars and scored 9 goals.