Former Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon claims Blues legend was hardest transfer he ever pulled off, ‘that was the toughest’…

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Peter Kenyon has shared which Chelsea signing was the toughest to negotiate during his time at the club.

Peter Kenyon, who worked in his role at Chelsea as the club’s CEO from 2003–2009, oversaw some significant transfers.

On the list of Chelsea legends, so many of them arrived at Stamford Bride during the golden era of the club at the start of the Roman Abramovich era. For example, the likes of Didier Drogba and Petr Cech arrived in the same summer transfer window in 2004.

Back in 2006, Chelsea had three of the world’s most valuable players. When you compare that to the modern era, the Blues are someway behind the very right now, with Cole Palmer being the exception.

• READ MORE: ‘What a player’… Yaya Toure claims Chelsea legend should’ve won the Ballon d’Or in his career

Peter Kenyon admits Michael Essien was the toughest Chelsea transfer to pull off

During an interview on Business of Sport, Kenyon shared so many stories from the past about his time with Chelsea. Incidentally, his time in West London came after a successful spell working behind the scenes at Manchester United.

Kenyon claims that the Chelsea transfer saga to sign Michael Essien from Lyon in 2005 was the toughest signing to complete he was involved in.

When asked the most difficult signing to negotiate, Kenyon said: “It was ‘the bison’ (Michael Essien) from Lyon. The hardest 26 million you’ll ever spend in your life. [Jean-Michel] Aulas was the president. He’s the hardest negotiator in the world.

“We spent the whole summer.. I went with the family to the south of France and Michael lived with us for about four weeks. We would go to the ground to try to do the deal, not do the deal, would meet, wouldn’t meet… We eventually got it. 26 million was a lot of money. Michael is one of the nicest footballers you will ever meet but when he got on the pitch, he was a beast. What a super person. That was the toughest, bizarrely that was the toughest.”

Without a doubt, Essien secured his status as a Blues legend during a nine-year spell on the club’s books from 2005-2014.

Speaking back in September 2024, Essien shared he still follows Chelsea and does expect them to eventually climb back to the top under the current ownership.

Michael Essien one of Chelsea’s most underrated players ever

When you think of the greatest central midfielders in Chelsea’s history, the obvious names such as Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and N’Golo Kante spring to mind. We think Essien belongs in the conversation with the very best as well.

While Essien was the scorer of some wonder goals at Chelsea, his day job was being the midfield engine in the centre of the park. The Ghanian icon was so industrious in the Blues midfield for nearly a decade, which allowed Lampard alongside him to thrive in his box-to-box role.

Even though it may have been a very difficult deal to get over the line, Kenyon must be so satisfied by what Essien went on to achieve in his magnificent Chelsea career.