Breaking News: Ghanaian legend Michael Essien lands top coaching job in Denmark

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Former Ghana international Michael Essien has been appointed unto the technical team of Danish top-flight side FC Nordsjaelland for the 2020/21 season.

The 37-year-old Ghanaian joins the technical staff of the Danish club, where he gets the chance to take a look behind the scenes as a trainer. As a ‘Player-Coach’, Essien will also take part in the training exercises of Nordsjaelland.

Essien reports to Nordsjaelland for the first time on Thursday, where he visited in August to gain inspiration during his trainer course.

He now becomes an assistant to trainer Flemming Pedersen. ‘As a staff, we noticed that Michael was curious and hungry to gain more knowledge, before and after training,’ says Pedersen on the Nordsjaelland club site.

The former Chelsea star has not officially announced his retirement from active football. Last season he was under contract with FK Sabail from Azerbaijan.

Pedersen also notices that the midfielder still likes to participate during training. ”His career speaks for itself, but Michael is also modest. For us it is a great opportunity to add someone to the staff who has played at the highest level. ‘

Sporting director Jan Laursen is also pleased that the Ghanaian legend has joined the technical department of the Danish club.

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗻 🇬🇭🐯

The former Black Star and pro player, Michael Essien, is joining our coaching staff this season 🔥 He’s gonna assist the coaches and participate in the training sessions alongside the players 👀

Read more here: https://t.co/prN7hpz7qN pic.twitter.com/3vYhB4LYsO

— FC Nordsjælland 🐯 (@FCNordsjaelland) September 9, 2020

”Michael left a positive impression when he visited here and we kept talking to him. We felt he is interested in our philosophy, the people at the club and the environment. In addition, we noticed that it is good to have a staff member actively participate during training sessions,”

The collaboration between Essien and Nordsjaelland did not come completely out of the blue. The Danish club works together with the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana, from where several talents have already made the switch to Nordsjaelland.

One of them was Mohammed Kudus, who was captured by Ajax this summer. Essien is a 58-time international from Ghana.