ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:CHELSEA WILL be without Michael Essien for the remainder of the domestic season after the Ghanaian accepted his recovery from a knee injury would drag on beyond the FA Cup final against Portsmouth.
Essien has not featured for the league leaders since early December, when he tore a hamstring while scoring Chelsea’s opening goal at Stamford Bridge in a Champions League group game against Apoel Nicosia. He was deemed fit enough to join up with his national squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, only to partially tear the medial ligament and damage the meniscus in his left knee while training during the tournament in Angola.
The Premier League club had initially anticipated a six-week absence – some of which was spent rehabilitating alongside Ashley Cole in the south of France – and, only two weeks ago, Carlo Ancelotti had suggested he was hopeful the 27-year-old would be available to return to the first team for the potentially critical league game at Liverpool on May 2nd.
Yet that optimism has been tempered by a series of minor complications and setbacks to delay his recovery, with the joint still prone to swell up after any strenuous work. The club’s medical staff continue to monitor his progress and are confident he will be fit enough to play in the summer’s World Cup finals but there is little hope of him contributing on the pitch as Chelsea pursue their first double.
Essien is expected to confirm as much publicly before the weekend, with Chelsea now resigned to doing without him over the final three league games of the campaign – starting against Stoke City on Sunday – and the FA Cup showpiece against Portsmouth at Wembley.
His absence is a blow for Chelsea ahead of the run-in. The Londoners have long missed Essien’s dynamism but Mikel John Obi, the only other recognised defensive midfielder in their squad, will be absent for Sunday’s visit of Stoke City with his own knee ligament problem, suffered initially in a challenge from Bolton’s Kevin Davies last week but aggravated against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
That will leave Ancelotti to play either Michael Ballack or Deco in the role in the hope Mikel recovers his fitness in time for the games against Liverpool and Wigan Athletic. The Italian was encouraged at least that Didier Drogba played a full part in training at Cobham yesterday as the players returned from two days off following their defeat at Spurs. He has been suffering from a hernia problem.
Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero has suggested he would welcome a move to Chelsea after lavishing praise on Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.
The Argentina forward, 21, has been linked with a big-money move to one of Europe’s top clubs for some time.
He said: “Chelsea are a great club. They have become one of the most feared in Europe over recent years. I look at players like Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard and they have been – and still are – the best players in their positions in the world. I could really learn from players like that, there is no doubt.”
Guardian Service
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)