Former Everton manager David Moyes has bemoaned his clubs inability to wrap up a deal for Michael Essien before he joined Chelsea in 2005.

Everton were in the hunt for the then Lyon star but were unable to get their target before he joined Chelsea in the summer of 2005 for a then transfer record fee for an African player for £24.4 million.

Moyes as If picking something from Arsene Wenger's copybook says Michael Essien was not the only one that got away from his net as he also missed out on the likes of Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale and Cesc Fabregas.

He concedes that of all the players he missed out on, Michael Essien's one is the one that hurt him the most at Everton.

“One of them would be Michael Essien, to bring him to Everton, Toni Kroos would certainly be one at Manchester United, and at that time as well we were very much after Gareth Bale and Cesc Fabregas.”

The bison as he was affectionately called played for Chelsea for about eight years winning nine major trophies including the Champions League.