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Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been given a major disappointment after being dropped from the Ghana squad for the upcoming African cup of nations qualifiers. After a disappointing World Cup 2014 in which they failed to qualify past the group stages, there is a lot of pressure manager Kwesi Appiah. One of the enigmas of Ghana has been Michael Essien. The former Chelsea midfielder has struggled for first-team action at club level in the last five years. He has suffered numerous injuries during this period and it even forced him to take a self-imposed exile from the national team.

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been given a major disappointment after being dropped from the Ghana squad for the upcoming African cup of nations qualifiers. After a disappointing World Cup 2014 in which they failed to qualify past the group stages, there is a lot of pressure manager Kwesi Appiah. One of the enigmas of Ghana has been Michael Essien. The former Chelsea midfielder has struggled for first-team action at club level in the last five years. He has suffered numerous injuries during this period and it even forced him to take a self-imposed exile from the national team.

However, as one of the top players within the Ghana team, they have been unable to drop him from important matches. The decision to take him to the World Cup 2014 backfired after the midfielder got injured in the first group match. Essien failed to return to the first-team in the subsequent group matches, as Ghana were knocked out of a difficult group. Appiah appears to have taken the decision to not include the AC Milan midfielder in the future squads. At 32 years of age, he is approaching the end of his international career. After just six months following his move to Milan, he looks set for a move to Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.

Meanwhile, Ben Koufie has been appointed as the advisor for Appiah. Ghana’s main priority over the next six months will be to qualify for the African cup of nations. “Anyway I haven’t heard it but what I know is that the committee will meet today. I’m ready to help him (Kwesi Appiah) on that. Why not he’s a personal friend. He asked to be his technical director and I told him I’ll do it,” said Ben Koufie about his inclusion into the Ghana National team.

Former Chelsea star Michael Essien could be on his way to Russia after it has emerged that AC Milan are open to the possibility of using the Ghanaian international as a makeweight in the deal to bring in Domenico Criscito from Zenit St Petersburg. Essien was once regarded as one of the best midfielders, but a succession of knee injuries have made the 31-year-old as a fringe player. This led to his move to Milan on a permanent basis last January. Italian football was expected to suit Essien given that it was slow compared to the rest of the leagues.

Former Chelsea star Michael Essien could be on his way to Russia after it has emerged that AC Milan are open to the possibility of using the Ghanaian international as a makeweight in the deal to bring in Domenico Criscito from Zenit St Petersburg. Essien was once regarded as one of the best midfielders, but a succession of knee injuries have made the 31-year-old as a fringe player. This led to his move to Milan on a permanent basis last January. Italian football was expected to suit Essien given that it was slow compared to the rest of the leagues.

However, this has not worked out as the player might have expected after he made just seven appearances for Milan last season. His form was also extremely poor in these matches. This has led to rumours that new manager Filippo Inzaghi may consider offering Essien, who is now valued at € 4 million, along with cash for Zenit defender Criscito. At 27 years of age, Criscito is at the peak of his career and is currently valued at just over € 10 million by his club. Allowing Essien as part of the deal will help Milan reduce the transfer fee substantially.

Despite being a defender, Criscito contributed with one goal and three assists last season. Essien is also one of the transfer targets for clubs like Olympiakos and Trabzonspor. It is looking very likely that the Ghanaian international may leave the top leagues once and for all. In his stellar career, he has won numerous trophies like the Premier League and the Champions League. He was involved in the World Cup 2014 with Ghana, but his tournament was cut short because of yet another injury suffered in the opening match against the United States. Ghana were knocked out at the group stages.

Ghana have been given a major boost in their preparations for the second group G match against latest Germany with the news that former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has returned to training. The AC Milan midfielder has been suffering from numerous injury problems in the last five years. This even made him take a voluntary break from international football. However, his return has been a major boost for the national team at the World Cup 2014, although results have not been positive. They lost their opening match against United States 2-1.

Ghana have been given a major boost in their preparations for the second group G match against latest Germany with the news that former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has returned to training. The AC Milan midfielder has been suffering from numerous injury problems in the last five years. This even made him take a voluntary break from international football. However, his return has been a major boost for the national team at the World Cup 2014, although results have not been positive. They lost their opening match against United States 2-1.

Further, Essien suffered through injury in this match and was forced to watch the training session from the sidelines ahead of the Germany match. The 31-year-old, though, was part of the Thursday training session and is likely to start against Germany. Ghana manager Kwesi Appiah was blamed for the 2-1 defeat against the United States, as he left out key players like Kevin Prince Boetang and Essien from the match. Despite finding the equaliser late on in the match, they allowed the United States to score winner in the 86th minute.

This has put them at a serious disadvantage event that they face group favourites Germany. Should Ghana suffer another defeat, they would be out of the tournament. Hence, this is likely to bring out a positive response from the team. “It’s not going to be easy to qualify from the group, but we’ll give everything to do just that. We’re going to have to play well against Germany and I know we’ll give them a good game,” said the Ghana manager regarding the injury situation and the current status of qualification troubles.

Ghana have been one of the top teams from Africa in the last decade after having reached quarterfinals in the last few editions, but face group stage elimination this time around.

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has failed Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti, who announced his retirement from the game a few days ago. Zanetti is regarded as one of the legends of the club after having been playing in the top-level for them for more than two decades. During his stellar career, the Argentine represented the clubs and has played for more than two decades. Most of it has come for Italian Serie A Giants Inter Milan. Michael Essien has seen from close up the popularity of Zanetti.

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has failed Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti, who announced his retirement from the game a few days ago. Zanetti is regarded as one of the legends of the club after having been playing in the top-level for them for more than two decades. During his stellar career, the Argentine represented the clubs and has played for more than two decades. Most of it has come for Italian Serie A Giants Inter Milan. Michael Essien has seen from close up the popularity of Zanetti.

The former Chelsea man joined AC Milan in the January transfer window on a free transfer. After suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury towards the start of the season, Zanetti has been going through a tough rehabilitation process. It would be varied of even for the young players to come back from his injury, but Zanetti has managed to almost get back to first-team training. However, this injury has proven to be a very tough one for the veteran to heal. He has announced his retirement from the game and he will now become a sporting director at the club.
Essien knows a thing or two about anterior cruciate ligament injuries after having suffered several major search injuries during his later years at Chelsea. Prior to that, he was regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. However, such injuries robbed him of a very good career. In the end, he had very little game time at Chelsea and the club eventually allowed him to leave in order to get regular football. Despite the negativity, Essien slowly appears to be coming back to his best.

Ghana coach Steven Appiah has included the 32-year-old in the Ghana squad for the World Cup 2014. The African nation will come up against Germany, Portugal, and USA in the group stages.