André Villas-Boas will draw encouragement from the return of the battle-scarred Ghana midfielder

The comeback cameo passed without incident. Michael Essien was a muscular presence in the Chelsea midfield, feeling his way into a contest that had become a little too open for comfort and fizzing one shot optimistically from distance that Simon Mignolet waved wide. It was too much to ask of six months of painful rehabilitation, both physical and mental, to culminate in an explosive return in a 17-minute appearance as a substitute against Sunderland.

Yet, when André Villas-Boas considers his squad for the weekend trip to Norwich City, he will draw encouragement from the reality that it is not just Gary Cahill who has been added to his options at the midway point of the campaign. Time will tell whether Essien, at 29 and with his knees carrying the surgical scars from three recent ruptures, can still be the dynamic midfielder of a few seasons ago. The kind of player who burst through Barcelona tackles and, so memorably, ripped that blistering opening goal from distance beyond Victor Valdés back in the spring of 2009. Regardless, a player of his experience and eagerness will surely boast the ability to adapt his game to remain a key asset.

Form and fitness have fluctuated for many at this club over Villas-Boas’s tenure to date but the manager has been denied Essien’s presence throughout. He has been the permanent absentee, the forgotten man filed away under “also injured” to report to the medics, not the manager. It was at the senior squad’s first day back at Cobham last summer that he twisted awkwardly on landing and ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee. It says much, both for Essien’s determination and for the club’s revamped medical department that a little over six months later the Ghanaian is playing again. His first-team return followed only 75 minutes of reserve-team football. “To come back to this intensity of level in the Premier League is fantastic to see,” Villas-Boas said. “He represents one of the best players in the league.”

The months ahead will prove whether he remains one, but his availability has psychological implications for a squad who have, at times, let standards slip this term. Essien’s reputation remains and there is reassurance to be had with him back in contention. Certainly, the willingness to release Josh McEachran to Swansea City makes more sense with another midfield option available. “It’s great to have Michael back,” Petr Cech said, who will be buoyed by Essien’s bustling presence up-field. “He’ll need a run of games to gain match fitness but he’s been working tremendously hard and well to come back. You could see how eager he was to come off the bench against Sunderland, and it will only build up from there. It’s a great moment for everybody to have him back: he’s a very strong guy, mentally and physically, which is why he has been able to come back again.”

Those reserves of strength have been required, given how familiar Essien has become with recovery programmes. The injury sustained at Cobham in July was similar to that suffered in the same joint in September 2008 while playing for Ghana against Libya, prompting an absence of almost seven months. His left knee had then succumbed to medial ligament damage while training with his national team before the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, a rupture that ruled him out of the World Cup finals that summer and, after a series of complications, required four operations. Essien’s game was built around energy and power, assets that had prompted Chelsea to sign him from Lyon for £24.4m in 2005. Those characteristics were less evident even in playing 43 times last term. This time around he may have to offer something different again.

Recognition that his own game might now need to adapt may be disconcerting but it need not be traumatic. Essien returns to a midfield whose energy is generally supplied by the aggressive, box-to-box running of the Brazilian Ramires these days. Frank Lampard retains an eye for goal but his selection feels game-specific, with Raul Meireles a more subtle creative presence in the side and Oriol Romeu a tidy distributor rather than ferocious tackler. John Mikel Obi, currently hamstrung, is another option. Essien, even when short of games, would offer any of that quintet cover, when emerging from the bench. When fully match fit, and with bite restored, he would hope to challenge for a starting place, whether it be in the shielding role currently occupied by the young Spaniard, or as one of the more mobile options across the centre.

“He gives the manager more choices,” Cech said. “There are things the manager can explore and choose from, particularly with the number of games coming up.” Chelsea, after all, are the only team in the top four still involved in the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League title race, albeit from the fringes in the latter. Another body, even one as battered and battle-scarred as Essien’s, has to be welcomed.

ChelseaPremier League 2011-12Premier LeagueDominic Fifield
guardian.co.uk