Playing in South Africa’s league my prime target – Essien

Former Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has not ruled out a possible move to the Premier Soccer League (PSL), stating anything can happen in football.

Having enjoyed success in Europe with English Premier League (EPL) side Chelsea, the Black Stars legend is currently contracted to Sabail FK in Azerbaijan and has praised the South African top tier.

“South Africa is not bad, I would like to come here. You can never say never, I am keeping my options open,” Essien told the South African media at a Budweiser event.

The 36-year-old midfielder is in South Africa as the global ambassador of Budweiser in their new partnership with the English Premier League and Spanish LaLiga.

Although he may be close to retirement, the hard-tackling midfielder has confirmed he is keeping his options open.

“I love football, I love football…I have played it my whole life. So, I am not thinking about retirement at all (for now),” he added.

Moreover, Essien shared his thoughts on Bafana Bafana who are set to face the Black Stars in the opening round of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in November.

He expressed the 1996 African champions must improve on exporting players to overseas-based leagues, but believes they did well at Afcon 2019 where they beat hosts Egypt.

“I don’t know [why South Africa hasn’t exported many players]. In football you can’t really explain what’s going wrong,” he continued.

“On a personal level, I think they have to just keep pushing and working hard. Take their chances and see what happens,” noted the former Real Madrid player.

“However, I think they did well because they beat Egypt,” he concluded.

Should Essien consider a move to the PSL, he will follow the likes of Kaizer Chiefs’ recent signing James Kotei and national team goalkeeper Richard Ofori of Maritzburg United.

 

Source: Goal.com