Former Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi, has praised former teammate, Michael Essien, saying he never got enough recognition.
After joining the Premier League side from Lyon in 2005 for a £24.4 million club-record fee under Jose Mourinho, Essien became one of the best players to have ever played for the Blues.
Mikel and Essien won several titles during their playing days in the Premier League.
Speaking about the former Ghana international, Mikel said Essien was a monster in training and described him as a powerful machine.
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“He [Essien] never gets the credit that he deserves. We call him the train in training. He is a powerful machine, the way he trains. Every day he’s there working and working,” the ex-Nigeria captain told Dubai Eye.
“Apart from football, what a gentleman he is. He is the train, he is the bison and that’s what we call him.”
Essien spent almost a decade at Stamford Bridge, helping the Blues to win two Premier League and FA Cup titles, four FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League in 2012.
The 40-year-old also had stints with Real Madrid and AC Milan before calling time on his career after a brief spell with Azerbaijani side Sabail FK.
Essien recently acquired both the UEFA A and UEFA Elite Youth A licenses.