Michael Essien was yesterday confirmed to be signing for Milan on a costless deal. The Blues opted to pay out his contract, which would have been seen him earn in the region of £100,000 pounds per week until the end of the 2015 season.
AC Milan last night posted pictures of Essien arriving at the Malpensa Airport in Milan, and also a picture of him holding his Rossoneri shirt up to the cameras. He becomes Milan's 3rd signing of the January window.
The player nicknamed 'Bison' for his strength and rampaging runs signed for £24 million from Lyon in a drawn-out transfer saga in 2005. He went on to make 168 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 17 goals, including crackers against Barcelona and Arsenal. The relationship between him and Mourinho was very strong, with Essien admitting that Portuguese manager was a father-figure to him, notoriously referring to him as 'Daddy'.
Knee injuries, however, in more recent years have seen a decline in performance, and the Ghana midfielder has been deemed as surplus to requirements with a large wage for a player with only a bit-part role.
Lest we forget that, in spite a drop in form, Essien was at one time arguably the best midfielder in the world, and a vital component in the side that won a title in Mourinho's first stint at the London side.
So it's a final goodbye to a loyal, and on his day world-beating, player for Chelsea who still had praise for the club: 'I want to thank Roman Abramovich, the squad and Jose Mourinho, who gave me the chance to join Milan.'