Former England Defender Feels Ex Ghana Midfielder Did Not Get Enough Credit at Chelsea

• Micah Richards believes former Ghana midfielder Michael Essien did not get the recognition he deserved for his role at Chelsea
• The former Manchester City defender described the Ghanaian as one of the best during his days in London
• Michael Essien played for Chelsea between 2005 to 2014, winning several titles including the UEFA Champions League

Micah Richards feels former Chelsea star Michael Essien is one of the underrated players at the club and believes he did not get the kind of recognition he deserves.

The former Manchester City and England player praised the Ghanaian midfield enforcer, naming him among his best ten African players to play in the English topflight.

Reacting to his list on the BBC's Match of the Day Top 10 African Footballers in the EPL, Richards described him as 'top notch'.

"He was top notch, I think sometimes he doesn't get the credit he is due because he was in a team with someone like Lampard, who scored many goals, and we all go off with goals and assist," he said.

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Other players on Micah Richard's list are Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah, Essien's former Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba, Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng, Nwankwo Kanu, Riyad Mahrez and Yaya Toure complete his list.

Michael Essien spent nine season with Chelsea, winning the English Premier League title twice, the FA Cup four times and the 2012 UEFA Champions League.

He left the Blues in 2014 to join AC Milan before going on to play for Panathinaikos, Persib Bandung in Indonesia and Sabail in Azerbaijan.

These days he works as assistant coach at Danish clubs FC Norsdajaelland.

Alan Shearer includes Essien in top ten African players to play in the EPL

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Alan Shearer has named the 10 greatest African players to have played in the Premier League as he snubbed former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel who excelled at Chelsea.

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On the list of the 10 greatest African players in the Premier League, Alan Shearer named the duo of Jay Jay Okocha and Kanu Nwankwo.

Also, former Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro and Victor Moses were also snubbed by Alan Shearer who is of the opinion that only Okocha and Kanu should be the Nigerians on the list.