Yeeah!! We're off to a winning start. Though i'd have preferrred a less cliff-hanger, nail-biter sitiation. Now, if Che$lki can just screw up....
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[EN] Premier League 2005/06 (15 Viewers)
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Lyon Accept £26m Bid
8/15/2005 6:52:00 PM
It has now been confirmed that Chelsea have had a club-record £26m bid for Michael Essien accepted by Lyon.
The Ghanian international midfielder Mhas also agreed a five-year contract with the Blues and will undergo a medical in London tomorrow before the move will be finalised.
The 22-year-old has been a transfer target for the Blues for a number of months, but bids of £10m, £16.75m, £18m and £21m had all been rejected by the French champions.
However, their president Jean-Michel Aulas has agreed to sell the player, who had been refusing to play for Lyon, for less than the £32m that he had been demanding earlier in the transfer saga.
Lyon official Bernard Lacombe said: "Financialy it is an extraordinary operation. It is one third of our budget and it represents the entire budget of some Ligue 1 clubs.
"For Michael it was not a question of money. It was his dream to play in England."
While earlier Aulas had confirmed: "It is with great regret that Michael will leave Lyon. We wanted to keep him but we cannot make him stay.
"It is a wrench but for the club this is a good deal.
"We have talked about Michael’s situation in great detail and we have decided it is better if we let him go."
8/15/2005 6:52:00 PM
It has now been confirmed that Chelsea have had a club-record £26m bid for Michael Essien accepted by Lyon.
The Ghanian international midfielder Mhas also agreed a five-year contract with the Blues and will undergo a medical in London tomorrow before the move will be finalised.
The 22-year-old has been a transfer target for the Blues for a number of months, but bids of £10m, £16.75m, £18m and £21m had all been rejected by the French champions.
However, their president Jean-Michel Aulas has agreed to sell the player, who had been refusing to play for Lyon, for less than the £32m that he had been demanding earlier in the transfer saga.
Lyon official Bernard Lacombe said: "Financialy it is an extraordinary operation. It is one third of our budget and it represents the entire budget of some Ligue 1 clubs.
"For Michael it was not a question of money. It was his dream to play in England."
While earlier Aulas had confirmed: "It is with great regret that Michael will leave Lyon. We wanted to keep him but we cannot make him stay.
"It is a wrench but for the club this is a good deal.
"We have talked about Michael’s situation in great detail and we have decided it is better if we let him go."
I honestly don't know what Essien thinks he's going to do in Chel$ki. Granted, Abramovich has more money than Croesus, and Essien will be able to comfortably retire to a country dacha outside Moscow after just one season's salary, but will he get much playing time? As an African, I'm happy to see that our players are getting valued according to their worth, and I'm also worried that in a World Cup year, it looks increasingly likely that one of our stars for the World Cup will be going into the tournament with his reserve team form.
