Ghanaian football legend Michael Essien has lavished praise on his two former managers and says he wants to tap into their coaching ideals and principles to model his own coaching career.

Essien, a former Chelsea FC and Lyon great is currently a play-coach at Danish side, FC Nordsjaelland. The 37 year old has worked under a couple of coaches during a very successful career.

The ‘Bison’ will go down as an icon at Chelsea, a club he played 256 times for; helping to win eight trophies, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Essien has admitted he had not considered a future in management for long.

He revealed to Talksport in an interview that he was ‘the sort of the person that takes decisions when they come’, and feels he has ‘a lot to give to the young ones’ at the club after making a start on his coaching badges.

Reflecting on his managerial influences, Essien picked Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho as the best he had worked under, with Essien being part of the Portuguese’s early dominance in 2005 that saw him win back-to-back titles.

‘He [Mourinho] would be the first one for me [in terms of managers I have worked under],’ he told Talksport.

‘He’s a still a great manager. I worked under him and we had a very good relationship, and I had a very good relationship with [Carlo] Ancelotti as well. Those two are very good managers.

‘They’ve all played a part in my career and development. It’s great to look back and reflect on what aspects they taught me and I will take that on board [in my coaching career].’