Kuffour King of Europe

Samuel Kuffour finally celebrated Champions League success with Bayern Munich as they beat Valencia on penalties, but it could yet prove his last game for the club.

The Ghanaian defender, who was left in tears when Manchester United scored twice in the closing stages to snatch the 1999 final, at last got his hands on the 7.5kg trophy.

Even before an accomplished game in the final at the San Siro in Milan, Kuffour was already being linked with a trio of Italian giants - Lazio, Juventus and Inter.

Fees mentioned are between ?15-18m, but the Italians would be prepared to pay Kuffour ?1m a year net, more than three times what he earns at Bayern.
The Germans have declared that Kuffour will stay, but he has had a number of run-ins with the club this season, especially after they turned down a big offer from Barcelona.

Fined for lunch

The Black Stars defender was subsequently fined for going to lunch with Barcelona representative Bernd Schuster.

Before the final against Valencia, Bayern striker Giovane Elber said the team should be broken up if they won, because they would find it hard to motivate themselves to win anything else after reaching such a peak.

That may also be a deciding factor for Kuffour, who has also won four German titles in five seasons and, at 24 and the peak of his powers, may opt for a new challenge in Serie A.

Inter Milan are strongly tipped to sign Kuffour by future team-mate Mohammed Kallon, but Lazio seem determined to sign a black player to send a strong message to the racist element amongst their support.

Kuffour has become only the second Ghanaian to get his hands on European club football's most prestigious trophy, after Abedi Pele with Marseille in 1993.

He is also only the sixth African to pick up a winners medals from top European clup competition, behind Algeria's Rabah Madjer, Nigerians Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu and Cameroonian Geremi Njitap last year.

Kuffour has also now played 43 games in the Champions League, seven more than his nearest challenger Kanu.

They have all been for the one club, Bayern, who signed him from Italian club Torino where he had gone at 15 after impressing in Ghana's Under-17 World Cup triumph in 1991.

The Kumasi-born defender broke into the Bayern first team in 1994 and, apart from a season on loan at second division Nuremburg, he has usually been a first-choice regular since then, with over 100 Bundesliga games under his belt.