Euroscene/Paddy Agnew: The name Harvey Esajas is unlikely to ring too many bells with even the most attentive of football fans. Not many will know that 29-year-old Esajas, Rotterdam-born of Surinamese extraction, recently made his debut for the mighty AC Milan.

That "debut" represented a remarkable twist in the roller-coaster career of Esajas. Two and a half years ago, he had had enough of football. A serious Achilles tendon injury had seemed to decree the end of a career which had started promisingly enough 15 years ago, alongside AC Milan midfielder and Dutch international Clarence Seedorf in the Ajax Amsterdam youth team.

From Ajax, Esajas had moved to the youth team of Belgian champions Anderlecht before signing for a season with Feyenoord. There the promising defender seemed to be making headway until he lost his cool in a league game, hitting an opponent so hard that he knocked him unconscious.

Feyenoord decided that life was controversial enough without a defender with a touch of the Mike Tysons and did not renew his contract at the end of the season.

After Feyenoord, Esajas did the rounds of some of the not-so-glamorous clubs of European football, playing for FC Groningen, Dordrecht '90 and Cambuur in the Netherlands, and for Spanish second division side Mostoles.

When injury struck during his time in Spain, Harvey decided the time had come to hang up the old boots. In the end, the only regular work he could find was as a restaurant dishwasher. That was precisely what he was doing when he came across his old mate Seedorf.

He bummed a lift from Seedorf ("I didn't even have a driving licence in those days, let alone a car") and as the two drove along, he outlined his situation.

Seedorf could see for himself that his former mate was in a pretty bad way. For a start, Esajas had let himself go physically and was now weighing in at a tidy 15st 7lbs. For a second, he was desperate for a decent job.

Seedorf promised him he would see what he could do. True to his word, Seedorf raised the issue of Esajas with AC Milan's acting boss, Adriano Galliani. In March of last year, Galliani gave the go-ahead for Esajas to be given a chance to train with the Milan reserves.

Seedorf had told Galliani that Esajas was not only "a talented footballer but also a determined individual". Galliani and the staff at Milanello saw for themselves the player's strenuous efforts, training and dieting hard, as he tried to get himself back to something approaching fitness.

When Galliani summoned Esajas to his office last July, he imagined the Milan boss was either going to graciously show him the door or at best offer him a chance with a third or fourth division club. To his surprise, Galliani offered him a one-year contract.

"I just about fell off the chair in Galliani's office when I heard the news, being signed for Milan is really incredible," said Esajas.

With the exception of die-hard Milan fans who anxiously exchanged chat room calls re the signing of "some unheard-of Dutch defender", not too many people noticed Harvey Esajas' reintegration into the world of professional football. When he was summoned to the first team squad for the first leg of Milan's cup tie with Palermo last November, many of us thought he was just another Milan youth team product brought in to make up the numbers.

We discovered otherwise when he came on for the final five minutes of Milan's 2-0 second leg win at the San Siro two weeks ago. The fans already knew about him for they gave him a huge cheer every time he touched the ball.

Afterwards, it was champagne all round in the Milan dressing room with Seedorf commenting: "I had been trying to find an opportunity for Harvey for years, and finally Milan gave him one. I have to thank the club, the coach and the team for their trust in my opinion because, eight months ago no one knew him.

"For me, it was very emotional, a story that teaches you one thing - never stop dreaming."