Michael Essien rules out coaching after retirement

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has dismissed his chances of entering into coaching once his playing career comes to an end.

The Ghana international is currently in the ranks of Indonesian side Persib Bandung, where he has proved a huge success since joining in March.

There was a recent suggestion that Essien could follow in the footsteps of former Blues teammate Claude Makelele and enter into coaching in the future. However, the veteran midfielder has dismissed the claims by suggesting that coaching is not his thing, he said: "I do not know, I cannot be a coach. Maybe I will just leave football and enjoy time with my family."

Several ex-footballers have succeeded in the new venture of coaching with a few hitting the heights of excellence. This trend has been growly in Ghana in recent years with the likes of Kwesi Appiah, Maxwell Konadu, Otto Addo, Ibrahim Tanko, YawPreko being practicing coaches at various levels.

Essien joined the newly formed Indonesian division Liga 1 earlier this year, and he has since turned out to be a huge success, gaining a couple of sponsorship contracts along the way. The former Champions League winner has also hinted his ambition to extend his stay by a further year at Persib, and this gives an impression that he is aiming to end his career with the Indonesian outfit.

The 34-year-old has notched four goals in 21 appearances for Persib this term, and he appears to have already provided value for money after attracting a good crowd of 19,000 on average at the home stadium. Apart from Essien, former West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie also plys his trade in the Far East league for Madura United, where he has notched 13 goals in 18 appearances. Essien is likely to feature for Persib this weekend they host table-toppers Bhayangkara.