He began his football career after graduating from St. Augustine's College in Cape Coast, playing at a local club, Liberty Professionals.

Essien grew up a boyhood Aston Villa fan, influenced by his father's love for the Birmingham based club.

Essien formed midfield partnerships with Nicolas Dieuze and Cyril Jeunechamp and scored vital goals in victories over Nantes, Lorient and Guingamp.

He opened the new campaign by scoring on his season debut against Lens in a 1–1 draw and converted five more league goals, which included one in a 2–0 victory over the defending champions Lyon.

[16][17] Following the campaign, in which Bastia finished mid-table for the third consecutive season, Essien drew interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Marseille.

[18] However, Essien rejected PSG's contract offer, instead agreeing terms with the two-time defending champions Lyon, who paid Bastia €7.8 million for the transfer.

His performances in the league resulted in him being voted the 2005 Player of the Year by France's National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP).

[25] Essien also helped Lyon to reach the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League where he put in dynamic performances and scored five goals in the tournament.

[27] The transfer came under scrutiny in the Stevens inquiry report, which expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pini Zahavi and Barry Silkman.

[30] He made an assist in his full debut against West Bromwich Albion, and he replaced the injured Claude Makélélé in the defensive midfield role against Sunderland in the 2–0 win on 10 September 2005.

In January 2006, Essien was himself stretchered off the field after a challenge from West Ham United's captain, Nigel Reo-Coker, and was sidelined for three weeks.

Later in the competition, Essien scored a late winner in the quarter-final second leg against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium to send Chelsea through to the semifinals with a 2–1 victory on the night and a 3–2 win on aggregate.

Essien also scored a stunning late equaliser at home against Arsenal on 10 December 2006, as the match was going to end Chelsea's long unbeaten run.

[43] It was feared Essien would miss the 2008–09 Premier League season after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament damage on 5 September while playing for Ghana.

In his second match back from the knee injury, Essien scored just before half-time to give Chelsea a vital away goal against Juventus in the Champions League first knockout round.

On 6 May 2009, Essien scored a left-footed volley in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona, a tie that Chelsea ultimately lost due to the away goal rule.

Essien was injured on international duty during the 2010 African Nations Cup and missed the remainder of the English domestic season.

[46] Essien returned to action on 17 July 2010 in a friendly against Crystal Palace and scored the only goal of the match to give Chelsea the win.

Essien also put in impressive performances against Marseille, Blackburn Rovers and Fulham, the latter a match in which he scored the only goal and received a red card.

In pre-season training for the 2011–12 Premier League season, Essien ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, undergoing surgery on 11 July 2011.

[47] However, he began training lightly in late November 2011 and made his comeback on 9 January 2012, playing 75 minutes of the reserves' 3–2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.

Due to missing most of the beginning half of the 2011–12 Premier League season, Essien was unable to gain favour with manager André Villas-Boas.

On 21 February 2012, during a Champions League match against Napoli, Villas-Boas left Frank Lampard, Essien and Ashley Cole on the substitutes' bench.

[51] On 4 March 2012, following a 1–0 league defeat against West Brom which left Chelsea three points adrift of Arsenal in the battle for fourth place in the Premier League, Villas-Boas' employment was terminated by Chelsea, with assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo being appointed as caretaker manager on an interim basis until the end of the season.

Di Matteo immediately showed favour towards veteran Chelsea players like Essien, Lampard and John Terry.

On 31 August 2012, Essien signed a season-long loan deal with Real Madrid, reuniting him with his former manager at Chelsea, José Mourinho.

[62] On 13 March 2017, Essien joined the Indonesian club side Persib Bandung, signing a one-year contract with an option to extend for an additional year.

[67][68] Essien's international career started with the Ghana under-17 national team, the Black Starlets when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand and won the bronze medal.

He said that he even retired before the 2014 FIFA World Cup but he was called back by former Ghana coach, James Kwesi Appiah to come and help the team.

In addition to his work-rate, physicality, and defensive skills, Essien also possessed good technique, vision, tactical intelligence, and leadership qualities,[84] and was a powerful striker of the ball from distance.