Pretty Ghanaian law student Veralie Dela Ackumey today tells how Chelsea star Essien, 25, cheated on her at least 50 times throughout a torrid three-year relationship in which he netted women on dating websites.
And the 25-year-old beauty reveals the tactics the philandering midfielder used time and time again to dribble his way back to her - weeping and even getting his mum to apologise for him.
"He has lied through his teeth to cover up what went between us," Dela told the News of the World. He may be a successful footballer, but as a person he is a failure. He cheated on me so many times—more than 50."
Loyal Dela even spotted pictures of one lover, ex-£3,000-a-night hooker Cassie Sumner, semi-naked in Essien's manbag while he was fishing around for change for a church collection. But the final whistle came after a mesmeric performance even by Essien's Chelsea standards—when he was juggling 25-year-old Cassie, Ghanaian actress Nadia Buari and blonde personal trainer Lurata Murati, 28, behind her back.
Yet all looked rosy when Dela met the Ghana international in their home city Accra in 2003. She says: "He wasn't that famous back then and I knew nothing about football—but we talked about the world and what we wanted from life. It was natural when we made love and everything clicked between us."
During their passionate romance he whisked Dela off to live with him in Lyon where he played for the top French side. It was then that Dela started getting the first inklings of what he really wanted from life.
"He was getting messages from girls all the time—one from a Ugandan flight attendant he picked up after an international match," she says. "I found text messages saying ‘I miss you'. But when I confronted him he made a great show of how bad he felt about cheating.
"He cried and begged me not to leave him. He always did that. He knew how to appeal to my better nature by crying until I pitied him. He would tell me he desperately wanted to change—that only I could understand him."
Essien also got his mum Aba to help smooth things over whenever he was found out. "Aba was well aware what Michael got up to but she'd call me and say ‘Have patience, he will change'," says Dela. "So I stayed patient. I wanted to help him."
In August 2005 Essien landed his £25 million dream move from Lyon to Chelsea, taking Dela with him. "We stayed for the first months at the Chelsea Hotel at Stamford Bridge," says Dela. "I saw Jose Mourinho there a lot. He was a nice guy. I found myself standing next to Michael and him at a press conference live on Sky TV."
But it was a rare appearance as £90,000-a-week Essien made sure Dela stayed in the background. She admits she wasn't much of a WAG.
"I went to the matches but I didn't meet any of the other players' wives or girlfriends," she says. "I just wanted to study law while they were more interested in shopping." The couple moved to a £1.5 million home in Cobham, Surrey, near Chelsea's training ground. But soon Essien's womanising worsened—and he started using internet dating sites.
Dela recalls: "Michael spent a lot of time on the internet and I later discovered he was using a dating website called Devil Called Love, He would call to say he had something important to do with one of the other Chelsea stars. It was the perfect cover for Michael to meet other women."
Whenever Dela found out and confronted him, he would blame his friends for leading him astray and beg for forgiveness. If Essien got into really hot water he would send Dela simpering letters begging her forgiveness. One said: "Baby am really really sorry for what has happen, please forgive me I didn't mean to hurt you. please, am on my knees pleading for forgiveness. Please find a place in your heart and forgive me, I promise it will never happen again."
But then came his hat-trick of shame in 2006, World Cup year. First he got Dela out of the way by sending her back to Ghana on business "I was there supposedly representing Michael in a deal with Nike when I found out about him and personal trainer Lurata in February," she says. He has never given a proper reason to my face for her. She later called him a ‘lying, cheating bastard' in a newspaper. She couldn't have been more accurate."
While Essien was seeing Lurata he took up with 25-year-old actress Nadia Buari—the woman he's dating now. Dela says: "He started playing around with her just after the World Cup. A mutual friend was keeping me updated on what Michael got up to. Again he denied everything to me. He said he'd spoken with Nadia's sister to warn her to keep away from him."
But while he was seeing both these women, Essien was also hitting the net with glamour girl Cassie—even moving her into his home. Although he made sure she was gone whenever Dela returned.
"My clothes and belongings were always where I'd left them and he said he missed and loved me," says Dela. "But he was sleeping with both Cassie and Lurata while I was away. I first knew about Cassie when I wanted Michael to donate some money for the collection at church. When he opened his bag I saw three pictures inside of her semi-naked. Yet again, he lied to me. This time he said a team mate had put them in there. It was typical of him. In fact, he'd pretty much moved Cassie into our house. She had even been wearing my clothes."
The betrayals got too much for Dela and the couple split in late 2006. Dela, who now lives and studies in London, says: "I believe in forgiveness, but it's not fair that he should use and discard other people in the way he does. His fans should know what he's really like."
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