Premier League - Essien extends Chelsea deal

Reuters - Fri, 04 Jun 17:32:00 2010

Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has signed a two-year contract extension at Chelsea.

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The new deal will keep the 27-year-old at Stamford Bridge until 2015.

"I am delighted because the club has shown a very big confidence and interest in me," said Essien. "I am looking forward to coming back and enjoying my football and winning more trophies with the club.

"That is why I am here. I think it is one of the most important contracts in my career."

Essien is currently sidelined with a knee injury that has ruled him out of the World Cup, and he has not featured for the Blues since suffering a hamstring injury in December.

Nevertheless, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti revealed Essien remains an integral part of his plans as he bids to build on his side's double-winning campaign of last season.

"I am very happy that Michael has agreed to extend his time with us, as it means he will continue to be a very important player for Chelsea long into the future," Ancelotti told Chelsea's website.

Essien has made 185 appearances and scored 22 goals for Chelsea since arriving at the west London club in £26 million deal from Lyon in 2005.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 18 of 18

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  1. gud job man!

    From BEN, on Sun 6 Jun 0:52
  2. CHELSEA HAVE MADE A VERY GOOD DECISION KEEPING­ ESSIEN,BUT IT'S THAT HE IS NOT GOING TO WORLD CUP

    From Goodnews, on Sun 6 Jun 0:40
  3. Nice one Essien.

    From P, on Sat 5 Jun 22:12
  4. 4 me,we really need aguero, and hamsik..completely­ agreed with Champions..the way aguero play is what­ chelsea must have right now..believe me,if chelsea get­ aguero,you will see chelsea will be up to next­ level..more fast,more dangerous..mark my words..and­ 'saudare goku',darijo srna is a croatian right­ back,who can also play in midfield..chelsea already­ offered about 14m to get him..

    From Mohd Nur Irsyaad, on Sat 5 Jun 18:08
  5. Evra is a left back, the right back for France this­ summer is more than likely going to be Sagna from­ Arsenal.

    From Robert, on Sat 5 Jun 13:34
  6. david i think u r getting essien the ghanain central­ midfielder who plays 4 chelsea with patrice evra the­ french right back

    From dumgaz, on Sat 5 Jun 13:14
  7. David read the first line of the article again and see­ if you can tell where you went wrong.

    From Robert, on Sat 5 Jun 12:14
  8. France are going to miss Essien, he has to be the best­ right back in the premiership, his strength and­ determination are just unrivaled! Fantastic player,­ just a shame he isnt austrain!

    From David, on Sat 5 Jun 11:44
  9. we could talk all day about who chelsea hsould sign and­ sell and do this n that but you cant sign everyone. a­ can miake a list of, kjaer, subotic, di maria, navas,­ krasic, hamsik, blanco, martinez, kaka, srna, aguero,­ pato, van der vaart, milner and so on and so on. thing­ is you cany sign all these players. we are going to­ need to replace lampard and drogba with proven quality,­ not yet but within 3 years and they need to fit in and­ it we need to get the correct player before they go to­ another big club and we then cant get him.

    right now­ though we need a right sided player. even if cole stays­ we have no backup. sadly it looks like cole will be­ leaving which i cant understand at all, especially with­ the new home grown rule and that he can play a number­ 10 and sometimes we play with 1 of them. if we decide­ to play with a defensive mid then we need a new­ makelele, mikel and essien arent that, they arent there­ just to tackle! thats all we need the now!

    From Champions Of Europe, on Sat 5 Jun 10:48
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hye guys. im fan chelsea from malaysian..

    i want­ question for u all.. who d.srna??? where is a­ player..?talk to me..
    bekoz i want see to him...

    From saudare goku, on Sat 5 Jun 10:38
  11. rushad you are wrong. aguero is an incredible player,­ twice as good as higuain and his play is exactly what­ we need. link him with drogba and watch the goals come.­ Anelka should be leaving to make way, he can play a­ central striker alone but as a wide player he is our­ worst player. Also yaya toure is a terrible player, I­ would be gutted if we signed him. I agree if we wanna­ play with a sitting midfielder then we need to buy 1,­ mikel isnt that player neither is essien, javi martinez­ is who i would buy. if we signed srna then we could­ play cole with zhirkov in frot, ivanovic with srna in­ front and we wouldnt need a sitting mid as our wide men­ are also full backs so could cover well when full backs­ bomb on. Hamsik I would like to see though, we need to­ keep power in our midfield as well as flair thats why­ if we played a 4-4-2 we could have lampard/hamsik­ playing beside essien and aguero would fill the gap[­ between forward and midfield and be our creative flair­ player.
    and our right side is not fine. kalou isnt a­ winger, he is a striker and could play as 2nd striker­ in a 4-4-2. cole leaving will be awful business, really­ really poor. as bad as letting robben go! we have no­ right sided players, srna would come in handy­ there.
    and it is a known fact we have already promoted­ 5 youngsters to the 1st team so you cant say it would­ be a good idea you have as its been done and is a known­ fact. these players need the chance and thats why we­ should only be signing 1 or 2 players as well as­ letting a few olders go. if they dont work out we need­ a player to replace both lampard and drogba within the­ next 2 seasons, a proven player in these positions. i.e­ aguero and hamsik!

    there are many player we­ could/should buy but you cant sign everyone so why mess­ with what is working fine. we neeed to find players­ that fit in with our team and freshen it up rathar than­ totally change it

    From Champions Of Europe, on Sat 5 Jun 9:20
  12. i wish Drogba was bout 25 aswell so we can keep him a­ lil longer, he's gonna be out within 3 or 4 years­ @#$% xDand Lampard to xD

    From , on Sat 5 Jun 8:54
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    do u peaople not see the scam behind all dis first­ essien injures ballack in training then he takes his­ place in the squad as well as the contract

    From Dartg, on Sat 5 Jun 8:24
  14. That's great. He is a very important player for­ chelsea.

    From Chukwudi, on Sat 5 Jun 8:24
  15. @Dartg watch how Essien plays and compare him with how­ well Ballack did in last 3 seasons. The only minus from­ Essien is his injury proneness.

    From Lukas, on Sat 5 Jun 8:21
  16. Dartg@ W T F you talking about? -_-

    From Alfa, on Sat 5 Jun 8:20
  17. Does anyone know what that Dartg (no.3) is goin on­ about??

    From stuart, on Sat 5 Jun 8:16
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    cant believe dis guy ws picked over ballack fr the­ germa squad n now he gets a contract til 2015 whereas­ ballack is signed only till 2014

    From Dartg, on Sat 5 Jun 8:01
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