Let me go

  • by Matthew O'Greel
  • Wednesday, 11th July 2007

Stephen Appiah has urged current club Fenerbahce to allow him to join West Ham United.

The former Juventus midfielder, who turned heads last summer with a series of impressive performances for Ghana during the World Cup Finals is said to be desperate to join the Hammers who are rumoured to have made a bid worth around £7m.

The Turkish side are - understandably perhaps - reluctant to allow Appiah, their star player, to leave and have insisted he join them on a pre-season tour of Austria.

But the 26-year-old says that he remains determined to move to England in order to play in the Premier League.

"West Ham have expressed strong interest in me and I think Fenerbahce will have to listen to their offer," he said. "It is my ambition to play in the Premier League.

"At the start of last season I turned down offers from top clubs in Europe to help Fenerbache lift the title because of my love for the team and fans.

"Even while injured I continued to play - so they should also take my interest into consideration and listen to West Ham."

Born in Accra, Ghana, Appiah began his career with local club Hearts of Oak before making his first big move to Udinese in Italy (1997).

A move to Parma three years later ended with the Ghanaian international captain spending a season on loan at Brescia, before Juventus paid €2m to take him on a season-long loan in 2003.

That deal was made permanent a year later and Appiah made appearances for the Italian giants in both the Coppa Italia final and Champions League.

But due to the emergence of Manuele Blasi he was allowed to leave for Turkey in July 2005, when Fenerbache paid €8m to take him on a permanent basis.

With the past year Appiah has been linked with several major European clubs including Manchester United and Schalke.

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