The ex-Chelsea midfielder gave his seal of approval to a post on X (formerly Twitter) which sought to suggest the current crop of players were no match for their peers of old.
The post followed Ghana’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde in their opening game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“I am taking this opportunity to apologize to Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari, Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah, John Painstil, John Mensah," the tweet read.
“The late Junior Agogo, Laryea Kingson and the rest… You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”
Essien played for Ghana from 2002 to 2014, making 59 appearances and scoring nine goals for the Black Stars.
He spent almost a decade at Stamford Bridge, helping the Blues to win two Premier League and FA Cup titles, four FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League in 2012.
The 40-year-old also had stints with Real Madrid and AC Milan before calling time on his career after a brief spell with Azerbaijani side Sabail FK.
Essien has since taken to management and is currently serving as a first-team assistant coach at Danish side FC Nordsjaelland.
He also recently acquired both the UEFA A and UEFA Elite Youth A licenses.