Sammy Kuffour narrates how Lothar Matthaus helped secure his transfer to Bayern Munich
Sammy Kuffour, a former Ghanaian international, claims Lothar Matthaus was crucial in influencing his decision to join Bayern Munich.
Kuffour left Torino in the summer of 1993 and joined the Bundesliga’s heavyweights. A year later, the center defender was promoted to the starting lineup before being loaned out to Nurenburg for the entire season.
The Ghanaian joined the club regularly after his loan period ended between 1996 and 2005, when he went on a free transfer for Italy.
Tuesday night, Kuffour described the part Lothar played in his arrival to Bayern while speaking at a gathering at the home of the German Ambassador.
When I got to Germany, I was training with the first team and he told me, ‘You are good.’ I was feeling cold so he had to go to the chief garage and bring me clothes and took me to shopping for two days,” Kuffour recounted.
” I was coming from Torino, who won a big money and [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge didn’t want to pay the money and Lothar said, ‘We know that the guy is good. If you don’t want to pay, I am paying the money from my pocket to sign him so when he develops, you have to pay me ten times [what I paid]. Then Bayern immediately signed me.
“I was very young but he saw the potential in me and playing alongside him was a dream come true because when I was young, watching him play the 1990 World Cup and become the best player of the tournament, World Player of the Year and standing on the same training ground with him was a blessing.” He said.
Following an official announcement of purchasing the majority ownership in Accra Lions of the Ghana Premier League, Lothar is currently in Ghana.
