Chelsea have been given a tough fixture schedule according to its manager José Mourinho, who has hit out at the organisers for scheduling Chelsea’s visit to Fulham just a few days after their Champions League match against Galatasaray.

Even though the match took place on Wednesday night, Chelsea players were able to return to London only on Thursday morning. Mourinho says that the recovery time for this match, which will take place in Saturday afternoon, is very low and that it is an indirect advantage to their main title rivals – Arsenal and Manchester City.

Keisuke Honda’s arrival to the Italian side Ac.Milan was supposed to mark a sense of a revival for the club but the Japanese player despite having displayed flashes of brilliance it still is not enough to catapult the team where they wish to be.

The situation in the club was so deteriorated that Allegri had to be sacked and removed from the position of head coach with the former player Claerence Seedorf replacing him and the recently appointed Dutch tactician has had to settle with a number of draws since being at the head of the club.

Michael Essien was another signing that the Italian club managed to make before the transfer window came to an end. Since making his move to Chelsea, the Ghanaian defensive midfielder has helped the Premier League team on winning 2 League tiles, 4 FA Cups, 1 Champions League and 1 FA Community Shield.

Ac.Milan is hoping that Essien will help them secure silverwares just as he did when he played for Chelsea.

Essien spoke about some of the reasons he decided to join Ac.Milan.

Essien said "I have just signed my contract with one of the best clubs in the world. Im very happy and looking forward to winning with the team#ForzaMilan."

"I cannot wait to join the team in training and be a part of Milan's family," he added on Milan Channel.

"I am very happy to have spoken to the Milan boss Clarence Seedorf, he is a nice person. It's a pleasure to have heard what Seedorf had to say about me. I always give my best and battle for the team from the first minute until the last. I hope to achieve something important and give my best for Milan."

Michael Essien might not be playing for Chelsea in the second half of the ongoing season as he is willing for an away move during the mid season transfer window.

Essien had played for Real Madrid on loan in the last season, but, at the start of the ongoing season, he was back to his parent club and with Jose Mourinho making his way back to the Stamford Bridge, it was expected that the Ghana midfielder would feature in the starting XI of the Blues quite regularly, but, that hasn’t happened. He has been given the starting opportunity only a couple of times in the Premier League so far this season.

The club which is believed to be most interested to secure the services of Essien is Al Ain. They are the biggest club in United Arab Emirates and they are currently desperate for a quality midfielder because of the fitness problems of their main playmaker Mirel Radoi.

Radoi had discovered a leg injury while playing in the game against Ahli and he hasn’t managed to recover from that yet. He has played a few games of late though, but, quite clearly, he was not moving that well on the pitch in those games. According to the reports, he might have to undergo surgery to get rid of that problem completely.

While talking to the reporters a couple of days ago, one of the spokespersons of Al Ain refused to say anything when he was asked about the chances of Essien being signed, but, he didn’t deny the rumours either.

Asamoah Gyan who is the skipper of Essien’s national side Ghana also plays for Al Ain and that’s one of the things which might persuade Essien to sign for the UAE club.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien made only his second start of the season in midweek in the Capital One Cup encounter against Arsenal and his performance on the night is being seen as a clear signal that the Ghanaian international is slowly but steadily getting back to his reliable best at the centre of the Chelsea midfield.

Truly, it seems a long time now since Essien joined the club back in 2005 when Jose Mourinho, in his first stint as Chelsea manager brought his to West London from French club Lyon for a fee of £ 26 million. He was an absolute beast for the club in defensive midfield during his first few seasons at the club before a knee injury slowed down his progress and last season, Mourinho took the player on loan to Real Madrid.

And it wasn’t seen by anyone as making up the numbers because Mourinho knows exactly what the midfielder is capable of and he used Michael Essien during his short stay with the club.
And now, reunited once again at Chelsea, the Ghanaian has found first team opportunities hard to come by with just one start before that match against Arsenal. He played the full 90 minutes against lowly Swindon Town in the last round of the Capital One Cup.

Essien played the full match against Arsenal, getting more touches on the ball than any other Chelsea player and he racked up an amazing 64 passes throughout the match, which was also, more than that managed by his teammates.

The 30 year old showed Mourinho exactly how dependable he exactly is and he had Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere bottled up completely. And with competition for places in midfield very high at Chelsea, Michael Essien has made it more interesting by throwing his name into the hat.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is absolutely delighted to have Jose Mourinho back at Stamford Bridge and the Ghanaian hopes the return of The Special One will bring a lot more glory to the West London club.

Essien spent the last season in the Spanish capital, playing for Mourinho on loan from Chelsea at Real Madrid and he mentioned that he had known the Portuguese tactician would be returning to his beloved Chelsea before the news became public in May. The Ghanaian international was brought to Stamford Bridge by Mourinho but had fallen down the pecking order in midfield under the succession of managers who came in after him and now that the Portuguese has returned after six years away, Essien is keen to play a key role under him once again.

According to Michael Essien, he is ready to give his all for Chelsea. He added that he hasn’t lost any motivation or desire to succeed, before going to state that he had been working very hard over the off season to be fit, both physically and mentally and he feels really good about the work he has done so far.

The former Lyon midfielder also mentioned that the team will give its best shot this season. All the trophies are up for grabs and according to Essien, Chelsea fans can rest assured that the club will go all out and try and bring as many trophies to Stamford Bridge as possible.

Michael Essien also mentioned when he scored the goal for Real Madrid in the last match of the season, he ran towards Mourinho to celebrate and instead of congratulating him, the Portuguese simply told him he expects to see him at pre-season training on the 8th of July and he had found that to be extremely funny too.

The Chelsea midfielder, Michael Essien, has made it clear that he has not retired from international football and he will make a comeback for the Black Stars after talking to the officials of Ghana Football Association.

In 2011, after returning from a severe cruciate ligament injury, Essien had clearly told Ghana Football Association that he didn’t want to be selected for the national team for some time as he wanted to focus on his club career. Since then, he hasn’t turned up for the Black Stars.
There had been a few reports that Essien has decided to retire from international football now, but, the Chelsea superstar has denied those reports.

Talking to the correspondent of a Ghanaian news channel a few days back, Essien said, “I haven’t quit international football yet. These reports are not true. I am hoping to play for my nation at some point of time in the future.”

“I can declare myself available for selection only after meeting the GFA officials. Before that, I can’t say when I will be coming back.”

Some former players often criticize Essien for not being 100% committed to his country. When asked about that, he said, “It’s not true at all. It hurts me when people say like that. I have always been fully committed to my country. Whenever I have worn the Ghana shirt, I have given my 100%.”

“I never said that I didn’t want to play for Ghana. I just said that I wanted a bit of a break. That’s it.”

Essien had made his debut for the senior team of Ghana against Morocco in the African Cup of Nations in 2002. He has so far featured for Ghana in 52 matches and has found the back of the net 9 times.

Real Madrid have been able to reach the latter stages of the Champions league consistently in the last few years, and the midfielder Michael Essien believes that this kind of form will certainly get them towards the elusive 10th European cup this season.

Real Madrid hold the record for the most number of European cup titles with nine on the board. They have been looking to win the 10th Champions League for more than a decade. After managing to get past Manchester United in the last 16 stage, the team will be preparing to face the Turkish club Galatasaray in the quarter-finals.

Michael Essien was signed from Chelsea on a season-long loan deal. Even though they found first team opportunities limited during the early part of the Madrid career, he has been used often by the manager José Mourinho in recent months. Essien has also been employed in several positions like defensive midfield and right back. Essien has praised the manager José Mourinho by saying that he has transformed the Real Madrid squad in such a way that they are now capable of winning the Champions League. He has also praised the approach of Mourinho by stating that no other coach handles every aspect of the player like the Portuguese.

“We’re possibly in excellent form now. We’ve made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and it’s obvious to me that we have the players to win the title. So we have to keep working and we’ll see what happens. He’s a coach, but he’s also a teacher and a father. He speaks to everyone man to man and it’s something you notice because not a lot of coaches do that. They usually come out, set the tactics…but he does everything," said Essien, who could be the first player from Ghana to win the title.

Michael Essien is going to organize a charity match between the European XI and the African XI in Accra which is the capital city of Ghana. The match will be organized on 8th of June. A number of star players including Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, Kanu, Florent Malouda and Adebayor are expected to take part in the match. The match will be named as “Essien Game of Hope.”

This will be the second charity match organized by the Real Madrid superstar. The first one was organized a couple of years back. The funds from this match will go into the account of Michael Essien Foundation. This Foundation helps the needy people in Ghana.

When asked about this charity game, Essien said, “I am very excited about this match. We are organizing this match for a good cause. Our aim is to collect a huge amount of money from the match and help the needy people with that money.”

“I want the people of Ghana to turn up in huge numbers to watch this match and this will happen only if the star players will come here and participate in the match. So, we are trying to bring some superstars here.”

“Last time when we had organized a charity match in 2011, we had managed to collect reasonable amount of money. That match was a huge success and I want the upcoming match to be the same.”

When asked why the game is named as ‘Game of Hope’, Essien said, “This is because my aim has always been to provide hope to the poor people and sort out their problems.”

Essien is also expected to invite a few players of Real Madrid to participate in the match. One of the members of the organizing committee told the reporters that the players will reach Accra on 7th of June.

Michael Essien might not be able to play any more game for Real Madrid this year as the Ghanaian midfielder is suffering from a severe allergic reaction. Apart from allergic reaction, he has also been struggling with knee injury. According to some reports published in Spanish newspapers, Essien needs a few weeks to recover from all this and there is no possibility of him featuring for Madrid this year.

Essien is a contracted player of Chelsea and he had joined Real Madrid on loan at the start of the ongoing season. The performance of Essien in the current season has been decent so far. He has played 6 matches for Madrid in this season and has scored one goal.

While playing for Madrid in the match against Mallorca on 28th of August, Essien felt pain in his knees and had to leave the match. However, he got recovered before Madrid’s next La Liga match against Real Zaragoza. But, after a couple more games, he got injured again and was ruled out for a few weeks.

When asked about his injury, Essien said, “It’s pretty disappointing to be ruled out for such a long time. After the match against Levante, I was feeling so much pain that I couldn’t even put my shoes on. The physio clearly warned me that if I continue playing with this injury, it could get even more serious. So, I decided to have a bit of break.”

When asked if there is any possibility that he would made a comeback this year, Essien, “It all depends on how fast I will recover. But, frankly speaking, it’s very hard for me to make a comeback this year given the seriousness of my injury. I would probably get fit in the second week of January.”

The Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo has said that he is confident that the team will certainly growing belief and confidence following the 2-1 win over Arsenal in the weekend. This was certainly the biggest test Chelsea have faced so far this campaign.

The club has been trying to implement a different style of football following the arrival of technical players like Eden Hazard and Oscar. Roberto di Matteo is aware that it certainly will not be easy to change the style of play overnight. However, it can be only done by a gradual process and the victory against Arsenal will give a lot of confidence to the players in their efforts to do so.

Chelsea have spent close to £ 80 million in rejuvenating the attack of the squad. Even though it has not always been excitingly brilliant, the Chelsea manager reckons that the team will ultimately start playing great football once they understand each other. Only Fernando Torres and Juan Mata have been at the club since last season, while the other front players are new additions to the squad. Hence, they will take time before they can understand each other.

Roberto di Matteo will be taking his Chelsea squad for the second Champions League group match.

"I am really pleased with the way we played, away at the Emirates, with the performance and the consequences. That gives the team a lot of confidence and belief that now we can play differently. We have to. We need to change our style a little bit from last season. We still have a lot of work to do to improve as we have not been together for much time," said the Chelsea manager after the 2-1 win over Arsenal, which put the club four points clear at the top of the table.