Lyon ace Essien reveals desire to play for Man United

LYON’S outstanding midfielder Michael Essien has revealed his desire to join Manchester United.

The 22-year-old Ghanaian has excelled during Lyon’s Champions League campaign and had two impressive performances against United in the group phase.

“I like Manchester,” he said. “I know most of their players and would like to play in the Premier League one day. I like Old Trafford and, foremost, I like Alex Ferguson.

“I’ll be happy to play for Manchester United but, at the moment I am in Lyon.”

Ferguson has never publicly admitted an interest in Essien but the future of Roy Keane remains unknown and previous attempts to unearth a replacement have failed.

The major problem is that Essien will not come cheap and Ferguson has supposedly spent next season’s transfer kitty on Wayne Rooney.