Chelsea loan Michael Essien to Real and Yossi Benayoun to West Ham - The Guardian

Michael Essien made one of the more unexpected moves on deadline night after the veteran Ghana international agreed a season-long loan move from Chelsea to Real Madrid.

The 29-year-old will be reunited with his former manager at Stamford Bridge, José Mourinho, at the Bernabéu and will effectively operate as a replacement for Lassana Diarra, who has been transferred to Anzhi Makhachkala.

Essien, a £24m signing from Lyon in 2005, was a key member of the Chelsea team until suffering ligament and cartilage damage to both his knees.

The midfielder has undergone three operations on the joints and been reduced to a relatively peripheral role in recent times after missing so much time in rehabilitation. Chelsea had been encouraged by his fitness levels in pre-season this time round but boast other options - John Mikel Obi, Frank Lampard, Raul Meireles and Oriol Romeu - in central midfield. That has persuaded them to part with the Ghanaian, who has two years to run on his contract, for the season ahead.

Another fringe player, Yossi Benayoun, has joined West Ham on loan for a season, the club he left in 2007, though Chelsea were not able to find a buyer for Florent Malouda. Daniel Sturridge would have been loaned out had the club been able to buy Bayer Leverkusen's André Schürrle.