 He played senior football for Kırıkkalespor and Ankaragücü before moving to Italy in 1951, where he would make 78 appearances and scored 25 goals during three seasons in Serie A for SPAL 1907.Esel returned to Turkey and spent the remainder of his career with Beşiktaş J.K., Vefa S.K.and Altınordu S.K..

Esel made four appearances for the Turkey national football team from 1949 to 1950.