Ex-England forward Carlton Cole set to join Michael Essien at Persib Bandung

Former Chelsea striker Carlton Cole is reported to be on the verge of joining Michael Essien at Indonesian side Persib Bandung as their second top-rated signing.

The 34-year old former Chelsea forward did not play with Essien at Chelsea as he left the club before Essien joined in 2006.

The news was confirmed by Persib coach Djadjang Nurdjaman in a statement, although he did not explicitly mention the name of Carlton Cole.

Djadjang admitted that the player will be from England and will meet the marquee player criteria of having competed in Europe's to leagues.

Carlton Michael George Cole (born 12 October 1983) is an English professional footballer plays as a striker most recently for United Soccer League club Sacramento Republic. He scored 51 goals in 289 Premier League appearances for four clubs.

Cole began his career at Chelsea in 2001, spending spells out on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before being transferred to West Ham United in 2006. He was released by West Ham in 2013 only to be re-signed several months later, and the club released him for a second time in May 2015. In October of that year, he resumed his career at Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

He made 19 England under-21 appearances (scoring six goals), and made his debut for the England national team on 11 February 2009 in a friendly match against Spain.

Cole recently had short spells at Celtic and American-side Sacramento Republic.