Real Madrid Midfielder only had two attendees

It has been revealed in Robert Beasley's upcoming book 'Jose Mourinho: Up Close and Personal' that the Portuguese coach was livid by his team's apathetic response to Michael Essien's birthday.

The former Chelsea midfielder organised a party in December 2012 during his time in the Spanish capital and was left reeling when only a handful of teammates turned up.

Beasley states in his book that Mourinho felt it indicated a wider problem with team spirit at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

"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," Beasley explained.

"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."

Later it emerged that only Luka Modric and Ricardo Carvalho attended the party with the centre-half having known the midfielder from their time together at Stamford Bridge.