ESSIEN WANTED TO PLAY FOR CHIEFS

Ex-Kaizer Chiefs star Hendrick‘Pule' Ekstein has revealed that Black Stars of Ghana legend Michael Essien had an interest in the Soweto giants before he called time on his career as a professional footballer.

Ekstein talked about Michael Essien and his interest in Kaizer Chiefs in an interview with Soccer Laduma last month. According to him, the Ghana legend wanted to play for South African club football giants Kaizer Chiefs before retirement.

Essien and Ekstein are not new to each other after they played together at Sabail in the Azerbaijan top flight. Ghanaian football legend Michael Essien played at Sabail while he was in the twilight of his career. He went to play his club football in Azerbaijan in the final years of his career as a professional footballer.
Ekstein revealed that Essien is a keen follower of South African football and that he wanted to play for Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs. The former Kaizer Chiefs player went on to say that Essien informed him that his desire is to play for Chiefs widely regarded as one of the biggest clubs on the South African club football scene.
It was established that Michael Essien knows adequate knowledge about South African football and that his scope is not limited to Kaizer Chiefs. The ex-Lyon, Real Madrid and AC Milan player knows a lot of things about the other teams in South Africa apart fromKaizer Chiefs. Ekstein pointed out that Michael Essien was in South Africa a while back through a Budweiser promotion.
Essien is presently doing his coaching badges and also coaching in Denmark as revealed by Ekstein. He has focused solely on his coaching career since he retired as a professional footballer last year. The ex-Chelsea midfielder is presently the assistant manager in the Danish top flight in the colours of FC Nordsjaelland.