How Chelsea legend came close to joining Liverpool
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Chelsea icon Michael Essien could have had a different career path had he chosen instead to make the switch up to Liverpool back in 2002.
Essien was one of the unstoppable forces behind Chelsea's successes under the watchful eyes of legendary manager José Mourinho.
With the Ghanaian in midfield, Chelsea won two Premier League titles, one Champions League, three FA Cups and a League Cup.
However, things could have turned out differently had Essien decided to up sticks to England a couple years earlier than he eventually did.
Speaking on Instagram Live, the 41 year-old recalled:
I had a lot of offers. I was close to signing for Liverpool when Gérard Houllier was their coach. I even went to Melwood to meet the coach.
We had a talk, and I returned to France, but the offers were still coming from PSG, Marseille and a few others.
But, I told Bastia I didn't want to move, and they also didn't want to sell me at that time because they wanted me to stay for another year, which was fine with me.
I thought it was too early to move to England. That was why I joined Lyon and later moved to Chelsea under Mourinho.
Lyon was my favourite team when I went to France because they were winning everything. I told my agent that if Lyon have come into the picture, I'd like to join them.
Essien went on to spend two years with Lyon before joining Chelsea in 2005 for a fee of £24.4 million that made him the most expensive African footballer in history at the time.
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