New Stade Rennais acquisition Kamaldeen Sulemana has revealed that ex Black stars player Michael Essien influenced his decision to join the French Ligue 1 side.

Essien is currently a member of Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland’s coaching staff, the club from which Kamaldeen joined Rennais.

“The only player I spoke to is Michael Essien because he is a coach in FC Nordsjaelland and he’s also my neighbour, so we spoke about this league.

“And of course he played in Bastia with Florian and also played in Lyon, so I also spoke to him about the league here and how interesting it could be for my development.”

The 19-year-old was the subject of an intense transfer battle having caught attention with outstanding displays in the Danish Superliga for Nordsjaelland.

Ajax, Manchester United, Liverpool and German side Bayer Leverkusen were interested in signing the young winger.

The Right to Dream Academy graduate, netted 10 times and registered four assists in the Danish Superliga.