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Roundup: Indonesian club Persib attracts former English Premier League stars

Xinhua, March 30, 2017 Adjust font size:

Indonesian football giant, Persib, has signed two former English Premier League stars, Michael Essien and Carlton Cole, with a one-year contract and the two have joined the team's training camp.

Striker Cole, 33, had scored 51 goals in the English Premier League with the clubs including West Ham United, Aston Villa and Chelsea.

Cole, the Briton, signed the contract recently after his close colleague in the English Premier League Essien joined Persib earlier this month.

A Persib official said that Cole's recruitment went swiftly. Cole arrived in Indonesia on Monday, concluded the negotiations over the contract the next day and undertook medical test on Wednesday.

"I never knew my career would bring me to Indonesia, (but) this is a great club. I want to pay for the support of the fans by scoring a lot of goals," Cole told Persib's website.

"Essien is a great player in Europe. The Persib fans are great. I am happy to be here," he added.

Essien had ever been Cole's teammate in Chelsea where the 34-year-old Ghanaian national player served from 2005 to 2014.

Besides Chelsea, Essien also made stints with French, Spanish and Italian top clubs such as Lyon, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Essien came to Persib from Greek football giant Panathinaikos.

"I am confortable and glad to undertake my first training session here. I hope everything will be doing just fine. I will give my best for the team," Essien told a press conference prior to the session in Bandung, capital of Indonesia's West Java province on Wednesday.

Persib did not officially make public the contract values for the two international players. Local media said that Essien received 9 billion rupiah (about 676,000 U.S. dollars) for the one-year contract with Persib.

Persib Executive Zainuri Hasyim expected the recruitment of Cole and Essien to make the team regain championship in Indonesia's premier football league this year.

"Persib must become the best team in Indonesia. The championship title is not a burden, but a challenge. We have to work hard if we want to be the champion," he said.

Persib is the largest football club in Indonesia with strong fan base. The team dominated championships in the national premier league until 2014, seized the 2015 Indonesian president Cup, the champion of Bruneian King's Cup in 1986 and one of top teams contending in the AFC Champions League. Enditem