Michael Essien intends to fight for his place at Chelsea

Michael Essien had a decent looking showing in the United States, showing some flashes of his former self. With Frank Lampard, Raul Meireles, Oriol Romeu, Josh McEachran, and John Obi Mikel like in direct competition for minutes in the double pivot roles for Chelsea, Michael Essien is far from guaranteed playing time. Essien seems to want to fight for those minutes though, and his comments earlier today would back that up:

My intention is to stay and I’m looking forward to a new season I still have two more years here. I’m still here, I’m still around.I feel now that I am coming back to what I used to be. It’s been a long road but I am almost there.

Essien coming back to form would be excellent for any number of reasons. He's still on a contract signed prior to FFP taking effect, so he's essentially "house money" in that regard. An effective Essien would also allow Chelsea to loan out Josh McEachran and allow him to develop further with less in the way of expectation, something that could allow him to transition into the first team with more ease. Most importantly though, Michael Essien at his best is one of the elite midfielders on the planet, and any team would be better with that type of player. Hopefully he's correct about returning to his previous form, as Chelsea will certainly benefit from that.