Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien brought his long spell in European football to an end after joining up withIndonesian outfit Persib Bandung on a free transfer.

He has moved to the club after spending almost a year on the sidelines without a club. His last action in European football was with Panathinaikos, where he spent almost a year. This is the latest in a string of moves that has seen the midfielder struggled for a permanent position. He has been hit by several injuries for almost a decade. Back in 2007, Essien was regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Michael Essien is a vastly experienced footballer who has made his way through a number of clubs including: Lyon, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Milan just to name a few of the more renowned teams.

The latest club that the 34 year old Ghanaian midfielder joined was Persib Bandung as Michael Essien penned a 1 yearlong contract with Persib Bandung on March 13 of 2017.

Former England striker Carlton Cole has joined former Chelsea star Michael Essien in Indonesian club Persib Bandung, according to reports in England.

The 33-year old player spent a large portion of his professional football career in Premier League side West Ham United. He agreed to a one-year deal and he is expected to feature when the new Liga 1 season starts.

Michael Essien looks all set to join Croatian outfitRadio Rijeka after searching for a club for several months.

The midfielder is reportedly set to sign a new contract with the table leaders in the Croatian league. He has been without a club since leaving Panathinaikos on an acrimonious note back in August. Apart from joining a new club, it looks like Essien will also sue Panathinaikos to the tune of £500,000 in compensation. The midfielder believes that he was not being paid properly by the Greek outfit. However, Panathinaikos argue that the former Chelsea midfielder spent most of his time injured and unable to play.

Chelsea owner Roman Abrahimovich hosted a trio of the club’s former players Michael Essien, Andriy Shevchenko and Didier Drogba at the VIP owners’ box when the Blues hosted Arsenal in the Premier League.

Chelsea are gunning for a fifth Premier League title this term. They have had a brilliant run thus far. The owner of the successful football club Abrahimovich would be confident to host friends and guests as the form the team is in would likely get a decent result.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was rather quiet all through the winter transfer window as he made no signings nor commented on it despite links to some players.

The Portuguese tactician spent a huge sum in getting Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan during the summer window. Despite the inadequacies the coach thought it wise to ignore the market and work with the current talents at Old Trafford.

It is widely perceived that the Ghana national team is under a lot of trouble due to the poor form under Avram Grant.

The national team are going into the 2017 African Cup of Nations after having failed to win their last five matches in all competitions. Even in terms of the tournament itself, Ghana have an extremely poor record after not having won the title since 1982. Despite this poor record, former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is remaining confident that the national team will be able to make a major impact at the upcoming edition in Gabon.

Chelsea legend Michael Essien returned to the club and has been training from the club’s Cobham base.

The decorated African midfielder won several honours with the Blues, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, League Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. The former Ghana international even won the African Footballer of the Year award in 2006 but has refused to call time on his professional football career.

Grant belongs to Israel and Israel and Egypt have been the fierce enemies of each other over the years and they still are.

The enmity is actually so fierce between these two countries that it’s not advisable for the citizens of one country to travel to the other as if you are identified as an Egypt native in Israel or as an Israel native in Egypt, you will be in danger.

Michael Essien will not be signing for Australian side Melbourne Victory this season.

There were media reports that the former Chelsea midfielder might be signing for the club but the deal has finally not materialized.