There are few players in the English Premier League more vital to his club than Michael Essien. That's not a gigantic surprise. Chelsea may be full of top players, but Essien is as good of an all-around player as there is in the world so when you lose someone like him you are going to be in trouble. Well, Chelsea may have to prepare to play without him as he goes in for further tests on a knee injury that could be minor or could be very, very serious.
Just How Bad Could Michael Essien’s Knee Injury Be For Chelsea?
Any time knee injury and Michael Essien are put in the same sentence there is a lot of cause for concern. He’s been plagued by bad knees and this latest injury is hardly his first. Graham MacAree from SBNation’s Chelsea blog We Ain’t Got No History takes a look at the injuries Essien may have suffered, the extent of them and what they mean for Chelsea. The full ligament tear possibility and impact on Chelsea isn’t pretty.
Ramires assumes the primary box-to-box role, but David Luiz is pushed into the central midfield as well to act as backup for both his Brazilian teammate and Mikel. Chelsea look hard for cover at centre back in both the summer and winter transfer windows and make a very strong push for a long term replacement for Essien, with FC Porto's Joao Moutinho on the list, although he's not expected to be quite the all-rounder Essien is. Club has difficulty pursuing non-midfield targets, although continues to chase the likes of Luka Modric and Javier Pastore.
Impact: Major on-field problems which require other players to step into unfamiliar roles; major impact on Chelsea's summer and winter transfer policies; unknown effect on Essien's career - could be restorative or extremely detrimental.
That's a pretty ugly situation for Chelsea. They would still be a very good team and shouldn't have an issue finishing in the top four, but Manchester United beat them out for the league title last year and appear to be getting stronger. Manchester City continues to snap up good players and look ready to challenge for the league as well. Meanwhile, without Essien Chelsea takes a step back and that's without getting into what they would be facing in the UEFA Champions League. The Blues could really use some good news on Essien's injury.
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