10 Things you need to know about Arsenal and West Ham target Stephen Appiah

Stephen Appiah is a free agent after leaving Turkish side Fenerbahce last month - and Arsenal and West Ham are keen to sign the midfielder.

The Ghana international says he would love to play in the Premier League, so here is your Mirror.co.uk guide to the man nicknamed the Tornado.

1) Born in Ghanaian capital Accra on 24 December 1980, Appiah admits he used to play truant from school to play football. Ironically he now helps Unicef promote education.

2) At 15 he began his career at Accra club Hearts of Oak, who spotted him playing for Mighty Victory colts in Mamprobi, and made his debut for the national team against Benin on his 16th birthday.

3) He joined Serie A club Udinese while still only 16 and moved from the frontline into midfield, where he could put his energy and tactical awareness to good use.

4) Three years later Parma paid $8million for him, although the move was thrown into doubt when Appiah contracted viral meningitis. Loan spells at Brescia and Juventus followed, with Juve signing him permanently for €6million in 2004. In his first permanent season at the Stadio Olimpico Juventus were crowned Serie A champions - only for the club to be stripped of the title and relegated in the Calciopoli scandal.

5) Appiah moved on to Turkish side Fenerbahce in 2005 in an €8million deal. It was not his first trip to Turkey - he had trials with Galatasaray in 1996.

6) He helped Fenerbahce win the Turkish Super League in 2007, their centenary year, but things went sour during a spell out injured. Appiah was unhappy with the treatment he during an injury lay-off, claiming the club wanted to freeze his registration so they could field a different international player. The situation descended into a war of words after Appiah went to Italy for treatment, with the club apparently not paying him for several months, and has led to him quitting Turkey a year before his contract ends with Premier League clubs keen to snap him up for free.

7) Canadian journalist Declan Hill claimed Appiah was approached by match-fixers, but only ever took money for winning games. Hill said in an interview with Spiegel : "I met with him in an industrial area in Accra. We talked in his car and he said that he had been approached a number of times in the course of his career and that he had taken money too. The first time was in 1997 during the under-17s World Cup in Malaysia and also in 2004 at the Olympic Games in Athens; however he had been given money in order to win games, not to lose them. He claimed that he then shared the bonus among all the players.

8) The current Ghana captain, Appiah has racked up more than 50 caps. He missed this year's Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Ghana, after suffering a knee injury last November, but he was called up for the squad to face Libya in Tripoli today. Enjoy this picture and video montage of some of his finest moments for club and country:

9) Forget Brand Beckham, Stephen Appiah has StepApp (think 'step up'). He combines promoting access to basic medical care for the poor with his own range of clothing . October 13 is StepApp sports day, the culmination of school sports tournaments to encourage education, sports and health.

10) He likes to listen to reggae, R'n'B and hip hop and rates R Kelly as his favourite star, and he also enjoys playing table tennis. Find out more about the man in this interview:

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