Michael Essien's wife has bought a third division Italian football club at an auction.

Akosua Puni Essien, who is married to the former AC Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder, bought Como for £206,000 (€237,000).

The price does not include the training centre or the Calcio Como brand, and the team will now be known as FC Como.

Michael Essien's wife, Akosua Puni, bought Italian club Como for £206,000

COMO FACTS Founded - 1907 (refound - 2005) Division - Lega Pro (third division) Position - seventh Manager - Fabio Gallo Ground - Giuseppe Sinigaglia Capacity - 13,602 Advertisement

A club statement says Puni Essien will return to Como soon and that she is 'honoured to be part of a club which has 110 years of history.'

According to reports, she bought the club at a bankruptcy auction held by FC Como Limited.

Como were relegated from Serie B last season. They are currently in seventh place and on course for the promotion playoffs.

The Italian club plied their trade in the Serie A in the 2002-03 season but this was followed by three consecutive relegations. Then things got a whole lot worse as the club was declared bankrupted late on in 2004.

Italian third division side Como were relegated from Serie B last season

However, thanks to FIGC regulation, a new entity was allowed to admit into the 2005-06 Serie D.

Meanwhile ex-Ghana international Essien has recently joined Indonesian side Persib Bandung.

Indonesian media reported on Tuesday that Essien has signed a one-year deal at the start of the new league season with an option to extend for one more.