Former Ghana and Chelsea star, Michael Essien, has shared insights into his decision to pursue a coaching career following his retirement from professional football.
“When I was playing, if you asked me if I wanted to go into coaching, I would say no,” Essien revealed during an interview with Joy Sports.
He added, “I didn’t want to be one of these ex-players who finish their careers, go home, and start thinking about what they want to do, only to get into depression.”
The former Chelsea star explained that staying in football and working with players was a natural progression for him. Essien’s playing career began in 2000 with Bastia before he moved to top clubs, including Lyon and Chelsea, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 2012.
Essien rejected a move to Burnley as a teenager
Essien was on trial with Burnley, then in the third division, after shining for Ghana at the 1999 U-17 FIFA World Cup, where the Black Starlets reached the semi-finals.
While the Ghanaian impressed the Clarets, the club couldn’t sign him due to a policy that did not allow them to pay any player on trial more than £60 per week.
Essien eventually ended up at Bastia and would later establish himself at Lyon, where he won two Ligue 1 titles before securing a move to Chelsea.
“I discovered Michael Essien had been on trial here for a few days. One of the best players in the World Cup – and we hadn’t signed him,” former Burnley chairman Brendan Flood revealed some years ago, as quoted by talkSPORT.
“The club policy meant we wouldn’t pay an apprentice more than 60 quid a week. It smacked me in the face that the problem was a lack of communication within the club that stopped our youth guys making an exception to the rule.”
Essien became Chelsea’s record signing when the club forked out £24.4 million to price him away from Lyon in 2005.
