St Johnstone signs promising Aaron Essel

St Johnstone has confirmed the signing of Aaron Essel. The Ghana youth international signed a deal for three years at the football club from Perth.

The Saints announced the 18-year-old can play in both midfield and defence. The versatile defensive midfielder was on a 10-day trial at the club at the end of last season. After the initial trial spell Essel played on trial basis during a friendly against Arbroath on Saturday (0-1 win). The youngster’s positive performances earned him a contract at the Scottish Premiership club.

Essel shared on the club’s official website to be looking forward to developing himself further. “I am very proud and getting the chance to be here is a blessing. I want to show my qualities on the field – my tackles, my passing. I just want to develop to become a key player of the club.”

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein shared he sees much potential in the new signing.  “Aaron is a young lad who has potential and he has a lot of the required skillsets to be a good player. He trained with us for about 10 days towards the end of last season and did really well.”

“As we saw on Saturday against Arbroath, he can play in centre midfield. But he can also play full-back and at centre-back. We will see what time brings but he has impressed with his all-round ability.”

Past season the teenager played his games at Bechem United in the Ghana Premier League, the highest professional club competition in Ghana. Essel also played three matches for the Ghana under 23 team so far.

The Saints will start the new Premiership season on 5 August against Aberdeen at home. On Saturday the men from Craig Levein will play their first game in the Scottish League Cup against Brechin. It’s unclear if Aaron Essel will make his full senior debut at the club as a St Johnstone player this weekend.