Persib Bandung president grateful to Michael Essien's dedication

Persib Bandung president Glenn Sugita has expressed his gratitude towards Ghanaian footballer Michael Essien following his release from the Indonesian outfit. The 35-year-old had the option of a year’s extension on his contract with Bandung but the club had no other choice than to release him owing to the foreign player quota.
Based on the new league regulations, only four foreign players are allowed to participate with one of them being compulsorily an Asian and this witnessed the departure of the former Chelsea star.

Speaking after Essien’s release, Sugita said:"We both appreciate the regulation that has been created by PT New Indonesia League, Essien is also very understanding. It's not only Essien's understanding of ending this partnership, more than that, we, especially me, are very thankful for his services so far. His dedication, loyalty, joy, and professionalism that Essien showed so far we appreciate. been with him, and the players at Go-Jek League 1 can take a lot of lessons from Essien's whereabouts. Hopefully this farewell with Essien still brings wisdom to PERSIB and Bobotoh in the future.”

Essien has been a tremendous servant of world football over the years but he is supposedly keen to extend his professional career for a couple of seasons at the least. The Ghana international recently highlighted that he has no plans of stepping down from the game and reports have since suggested that Essien could make the short move from Indonesia to head to the Malaysian league.

A number of leading clubs have already contacted the former Champions League winner regarding a summer move and the next few weeks could give a fair reflection of where the midfielder could ply his trade. Essien has won numerous honours during the course of his career but he is most fondly known for his time with Chelsea. He won two Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the prestigious Champions League with the club between 2005 and 2014.