Michael Essien has named ex-Manchester United midfielder, Paul Scholes as the toughest player he has ever played against during his playing career.
Essien faced Scholes during his day at Olympique Lyon in a Champions League game before joining Chelsea in 2005.
The former Ghana midfielder played with some of the world’s best players during his time in Europe but says Scholes stands out as the best player he competed against.
“I have faced a lot of good players in my career. It’s difficult to tell. I face the likes of Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and a lot…Steven Gerrard but I always say Paul Scholes is one of the players that was quite tough” he said in an interview with Goal.
Despite playing alongside some of the world’s talented players at Lyon, Chelsea, Real Madrid and AC Milan, Essien also settled on Frank Lampard as the best player he played with.
“Everybody is my teammate. I love all my teammates. It’s hard to choose but I would go for Frank Lampard. Being a midfielder that scores a lot of goals. To keep doing it every season is quite amazing. People know my connection with Jose Mourinho so yeah [he’s the best manager I have had]” he added.
Michael Essien is currently part of the technical team at Danish side FC Nordsjaelland.
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