Quotes from Michael Essien

Why haven't I retired? I love this game too much.

I'm not a difficult person. I just want to enjoy my football until I hang up my boots.

When I was growing up, I always liked playing football, and my mum always took me to football games. I owe her a lot. She was my pillar. She was the biggest influence on me.

I sleep 14 hours a day. That helps me get the energy you see on the pitch.

I like Singapore; it is very clean. People speak English and are warm.

I had a fantastic career at Chelsea. I was here for almost nine years, and it was great. I have nothing negative to say at all. It was all positive.

It's a big surprise for me because if somebody asked me when I was playing if Frank Lampard would be a manager, I would say no because he's very quiet.

I've been following some of the coaches, trying to get a little bit more experience, because coaching is very different from being a player.

Poverty is everywhere, but in Africa, there is more.

As a child, I always wanted to come to the Premier League, so when I made the move, I was very happy. Chelsea were on the up - they were doing really good - so I was very excited, and in the end, everything went well here for me.

As a young boy, all we used to watch was the Premier League at that time. I know the FA cup is quite important. It's as important as the Premier League in England. And I had a chance to win it over our biggest rival, and it was also in the new Wembley. It was a great moment.

Within weeks of the Ebola hoax dying down, the guys at Health Africa International approached my friends George Weah, Mahamadou Diarra, and I to be part of the initiative in using various forms of communication to promote a Ebola prevention education programme.

Teams struggle when they come to Stamford Bridge and, if we score one or two, everything seems to open up for us. We need to work hard to get into that position in the first place, but you can see what happens once we are ahead.

I like watching tennis and basketball, but it's not every day you can watch it on TV. I don't play them, though.

I've always enjoyed getting forward, pushing up-field to help us in our attacks, but I think you can still do that from a central position, too. You don't have to sit deep all the time.

Ghanaians and English people enjoy football the same.

I always spend my summer in Ghana. I don't go anywhere else.

Highs have to be all the trophies I won with Chelsea over the 8-9 years I was with them there. We had a good group, and we were winners from the goal keeper right throughout the team. These are the highs you never forget as a player.

I'm the kind of person who likes to be lonely. I got my head down and focused on getting fit.

The African greats who were playing when I was growing up inspired me - players like George Weah, Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah, Kalusha Bwalya, and all the others who made Africa proud.

I had an amazing time at Chelsea. I can't pinpoint to a specific event, but the best moment was the honour of signing for Chelsea because I was proud to be at such a club.

I want to give back to my community, little things I think they need. I went there to open a borehole and a public lavatory and give them a book about myself that we wrote with 'Right to Play.'

I've played at the highest level, so I'm just looking forward to enjoying the football, so anywhere there is interest, then yeah. I will consider it.

When I was little, my dream was to come and play in the Premier League. So when Chelsea came in, I said yes straight away.