In the summer of 2005, Chelsea had just lifted the Premier League title for the first time, and in dominant fashion, but it wasn’t going to be a case of one and done for the Blues.

Hernan Crespo returned from a loan spell with AC Milan, fresh from scoring twice in the Rossoneri’s epic Champions League final against Liverpool, and Shaun Wright-Phillips, the hottest young prospect in England, had also been brought in from Manchester City. But with the new season fast approaching, the club were set on bringing in a new midfielder, and there was only one name on the shortlist: Michael Essien.

Not much was known about the Ghana international on these shores, other than he played for Lyon which, at that time, meant he was part of one of the most dominant domestic club sides in European football. Over the previous two seasons he had helped OL win back-to-back Ligue 1 titles, midway through a run of seven straight triumphs, and in the second of those campaigns he was chosen as the best player in the French top flight. Understandably, Lyon didn’t want to part with their prized asset.

'It was 20 years ago,' begins Essien, 'and Didier [Drogba] called Florent [Malouda] to say that Jose [Mourinho] wanted to talk to me. I happened to be at a barbecue with Malouda, who was my team-mate at Lyon, and that’s how it all started with me finding out that Chelsea wanted me.

'However, the owner of Lyon had his own valuation and was not willing to budge, so that led to a long, drawnout transfer. I stayed professional throughout without wanting to force the move but eventually the clubs agreed the transfer and it happened. Of all the moves I made throughout my career this was certainly the longest, with the most drama.'

A summer-long transfer pursuit finally reached its conclusion, for what was then a club-record fee, on the eve of the new season, and with it began a nine-year love affair for a player who would go on to play a big role in one of the most beloved periods in Chelsea’s history.

'I had a good time with the club,' he adds. 'I won a lot of trophies and so I can’t ask for much to be honest. I had a good relationship with the owners, management, staff and fans, and that’s what matters the most for me.

'The relationship with the supporters was very good. I have no idea what they would say about my time with the club, but hopefully it will be something positive! I always did my best and I am sure they would say something along those lines. They supported me through thick and thin and they appreciated all my hard work, so I have a lot of time and respect for the Chelsea fans all over the world. Even now we still maintain a good relationship, which is very pleasing.'

Essien felt like a good fit for Chelsea from the word go, slotting in alongside Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele to fill the role previously held by Tiago, who went in the opposite direction to the Ghanaian shortly after his move. English football was the perfect environment for a player with his attributes – strong, athletic, with an incredible engine and underrated technical qualities.

'Looking back, yes, I think it was a very good fit,' he says. 'Although I think I surprised a few people with my qualities. Very few supporters outside France knew me so when they started seeing me play, they took to me very well. My versatility was also another attribute that suited Chelsea. I could play in a lot of positions which suited most of the managers I had in my career.'

At that time, he was also coming into a dressing room with so many big personalities, some of the biggest names in world football. Anyone who has come across Essien off the pitch will know that compared to the ferocious competitor on the field, he is calm and considered, and very softly spoken. So, how did he find that environment?

'It wasn’t too much of a big deal, to be honest, and it was more about getting to know them. Because I had played in the Champions League and in France for a while, I knew a lot of them and had also played against some big names at the time in Europe, so it wasn’t too much of an issue. Also, knowing Didier helped ease me into the dressing room.

'The Ivorians were probably my best friends when I was at Chelsea – Drogba and [Salomon] Kalou – and also Malouda. Three of us were from west Africa and had the same journeys to Europe so we probably had a lot in common. For Malouda, I knew him from his days in France with Lyon. I also got to know Ashley [Cole] when we went to France for rehab at one point so we became close. As a group we all got on really well, in fairness.'

At the end of his first season, we retained the Premier League title, and in some style, clinching the championship with a thumping 3-0 win over our closest challengers, Manchester United. We remind Essien of an incredible picture that was taken shortly after that triumph by our club photographer, which you can see below. He’s sat on the pitch in front of the trophy, staring at this piece of silverware with a mixture of love and disbelief written across his face.

'I remember that very well,' he says. 'It was the joy of the moment that got us all doing crazy things with the trophy. The club photographers are always in and amongst us so that captured some amazing memories. At that time I probably didn’t realise what it all meant, but I look back and have a smile on my face any time I see some of those images and videos we took together.'

While dominant midfield displays characterised his early years at the club, winning duels for fun and running just as hard in the 90th minute as the ninth, we later discovered that these skills were transferrable to other areas of the pitch. He was key to not only Plan A, but also B and C, the man for every occasion.

He was imperious as a stand-in centre-half for the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium in 2007, producing an outrageous tackle on Ryan Giggs to deny the Welshman a certain goal. Later on, he starred at right-back in our run to the Champions League final in 2008, having previously been utilised in that position a year earlier as a Plan B whenever things weren’t going well, and it was his deflected shot against Manchester United which fell into the path of Frank Lampard, who slotted home our first-ever goal in a Champions League final.

'It wasn’t too bad [playing at right-back] because I was a very quick learner and understood how to play a number of positions,' he says. 'As long as I was playing, I didn’t really mind about my position. I wanted to help the team all the time.

'I also started my career as a centre-back and most of my youth football games, even for Ghana, were at the back, so playing in defence came to me naturally. Of course, I faced tougher opponents but I think I adapted well and tried to always give my best.'

We ask him if he listens to all the chat nowadays about inverted full-backs and thinks to himself, ‘Hey – I was playing that way almost 20 years ago!’

'Definitely, and they have just changed the names,' is his response. 'I was actually talking about this recently, that as a right-back I used to wander into midfield. The goal I scored against Arsenal is a good example of that. The game has changed, of course, but there are so many similarities. I look back sometimes and think I used to do that and it just has a different name now.'

That brings us on nicely to another subject we wanted to tackle – namely the spectacular goals that became his calling card. He scored 25 times from 256 appearances, and two of them were breathtaking strikes that won him the Goal of the Season award at Chelsea, against Arsenal and Barcelona. But the big question, and one we cannot answer, is: which was the better of the two?

'I get asked this a lot and I will say the Arsenal one, purely because it preserved our unbeaten home run and it was an incredible strike,' he says. 'I also love the Barcelona goal, but due to the outcome at the end, I have to say the Arsenal one.

'Both of them were purely instinctive, without having to think about them. Just a natural reaction of ‘hit it’ when the balls were available – and thankfully they both went in. The fans still talk about them and the Premier League and UEFA post them every year, which is really pleasing for me.'

As well as those two Goal of the Season awards, he was chosen by the supporters as their Player of the Year in 2007, becoming the first African to claim that prize for the club.

'That was very special because Chelsea had some of the best players in the world, let alone in England, and to be selected as the best meant a lot to me. At one point we had lots of national team captains in our dressing room so if you are selected as one of the best, it should mean a lot – and certainly it did for me at the time.'

Unfortunately, the latter part of Essien’s time as a Chelsea player was dogged by fitness issues. Two major knee injuries meant that he was never truly the same player, although he was briefly back to his best after the first of them, during the period when he scored the aforementioned blockbuster volley against Barcelona at the end of the 2008/09 campaign.

He says that there are no regrets, nor frustration, at how things panned out, insisting that injuries are part and parcel of football. And he was also still at the club during the legendary 2011/12 season, when we upset the odds to get our hands on the Champions League trophy for the first time.

'It was great to finally win that trophy after years of trying and failing,' he adds. 'I remember we had a good run, especially games with all the drama like the ones against Napoli and Barcelona, and the way those games played out we felt it was going to happen.

'Being able to finally win it was great for the whole club. It also meant some of us who missed out on winning the Moscow final eventually got a chance to lift the biggest trophy of them all in club football.'

Essien spent the next season on loan to Real Madrid, where he was reunited with Mourinho, and then departed Stamford Bridge for good midway through the following campaign to join AC Milan. He continued playing for another six years, on and off, before hanging up his boots and starting a coaching role with Nordsjaelland in Denmark, which he still holds to this day.

'When I decided to stop playing, which was around the Covid time, I was approached by the owner of Nordsjaelland, Tom Vernon, to join them to further my coaching career, which I had just started. So I am working as an assistant coach and supporting the U19s, and also the club academies in Ghana and Egypt. I am enjoying it a lot. It’s totally different to my playing days but I am used to it now, having been doing it for the last four or five years.'

Will we ever see him back on these shores, working in the Premier League?

'I have learned to never say never, so who knows about coaching in England? At the right time and with the right opportunity it is possible.'

- This interview was first published as part of the Unscripted series in last season's matchday programme