Only two Real Madrid players turned up to Michael Essien's 30th birthday party as sad story remembered

Michael Essien is best remembered for his nine-year stint at Chelsea but the Ghanaian also had a brief stint at Real Madrid - which spawned one of football's saddest stories.

Essien joined Chelsea back in 2005 in a then-record £24.4 million deal from Lyon, going into rack up a total of 256 appearances and winning two Premier League titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup and the Champions League.

Jose Mourinho was the man who brought him to England and towards the end of his tenure at Stamford Bridge, he was reunited with the Portuguese manager in the Spanish capital.

Essien signed a season-long loan deal in August 2012 and was unveiled in a press conference where Mourinho called him his "son" to emphasise their close relationship.

But while Essien was unbelievably tight with Mourinho, it appears as though the same cannot be said for those who he shared the dressing room with at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Essien's birthday party blues

During the loan, Essien had a significant milestone as he turned 30 on 3 December - just months into his tenure.

Essien threw a birthday party and invited all of his Los Blancos teammates but from the whole squad, only two turned up.

Ricardo Carvalho, who he knew from his Chelsea days, and Luka Modric posed for a picture with Essien, who just looked happy that a pair of his colleagues attended.

Only Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos turned up to Michael Essien's party. Image: Reddit

Given his bond with Essien, Mourinho was unsurprisingly left angered by the no-shows and had to comfort the midfielder.

In the book 'Jose Mourinho: Up Close and Personal', Rob Beasley revealed: "Mourinho said that Madrid was a political club with warring factions and told me a story about Essien inviting teammates to his 30th birthday but only a few turned up.

"He had to console Essien, saying it was nothing personal and that it didn't mean the players didn't like him but they simply were only concerned with themselves and had better things to do."

Essien went on to play 35 times that season, scoring two goals - including a strike on his final appearance which he dedicated to Mourinho.

Michael Essien has a close relationship with Jose Mourinho. Image: Getty

Real finished the season without a trophy, finishing second in La Liga - 15 points behind winners Barcelona.

They were eliminated from the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund and lost the Copa del Rey to Atletico.

Mourinho left Real at the end of the campaign due to a "mutual agreement" and returned to Chelsea for a second stint.

Essien played under him again in west London for the first half of the season before signing permanently with AC Milan in January.