What if we told you Michael Essien could have been a Burnley player if the club were willing to pay him £60-a-week?

Not £60,000. Just £60. That’s not a typo.

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Essien will be remembered for a glorious Chelsea career, which established him as one of the great midfielders of his time.

The Ghanaian superstar won two Premier League titles, one Champions League, four FA Cups, and one League Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.

By the time he left in 2014, the £24.4million paid to sign him from Lyon in 2005 was considered a bargain.

But Burnley snubbed the opportunity to sign him for free just six years earlier.

In 1999, Essien had just starred for Ghana’s youth team at the U17 World Cup, where they were eliminated by Brazil on penalties in the semi-finals.

He impressed on trial with the Clarets, who were in the third tier of English football that summer, but a bizarre club rule meant they were not able to snap him up.

In 2009, former Burnley chairman Brendan Flood said in The People: “I discovered Michael Essien had been on trial here for a few days.

“One of the best players in the World Cup – and we hadn’t signed him.

“The club policy meant we wouldn’t pay an apprentice more than 60 quid a week.

“It smacked me in the face that the problem was a lack of communication within the club that stopped our youth guys making an exception to the rule.”

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Instead, Essien joined French club Bastia, and then Lyon, where he rose to prominence.

By 2005, the midfielder had two Ligue 1 titles and the French top-flight’s Player of the Year award to his name as he headed to Chelsea in what was a club record signing at the time.

In the following campaign, the 23-year-old Essien won the club’s Player of the Season award over the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

He ended up earning around £100,000-a-week at Chelsea, just a cool £96,940 more than Burnley were willing to pay.

Nowadays, Essien is part of the coaching staff at Danish club Nordsjælland.

talkSPORT caught up with the now 42-year-old during his appearance at Soccer Aid last year.

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Essien provided the lowdown on Ghanaian countryman Mohammed Kudus, the subject of increasing transfer speculation this summer.

Tottenham lodged their £50m bid for Kudus last week, but it was swiftly turned down.

The 24-year-old has made it clear he wants to make the move from East to north London, but West Ham are hoping for a rival offer from Chelsea.

When asked how he rated Kudus, Essien said: “Very high, very high.

“He’s got everything to be at the top, he’s a good footballer – he’s got everything to be a top, top, player.”

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