Burnley owner Brendan Flood has revealed the club failed to sign up a young Michael Essien as club policy prevented them paying his £60-a-week wages.

Chelsea midfielder Essien, 26, is currently rated as one of the best midfielders in the game and cost the club around £26m when he joined from Lyon four years ago.

But Flood, who arrived at Turf Moor as director in 2007, has now revealed that The Clarets could have signed up the Ghana international free of charge if they had been willing to pay a minimal wage.

"I discovered Michael Essien had been on trial here for a few days," he said in The People.

"One of the best players in the World Cup - and we hadn't signed him.

"The club policy meant we wouldn't pay an apprentice more than 60 quid a week.

"It smacked me in the face that the problem was a lack of communication within the club that stopped our youth guys making an exception to the rule."