10 things you need to know about Kevin Kuranyi

Published 23:00 06/01/10

Sunderland set to seal swoop for German striker Kevin Kuranyi . But what do we know about the Schalke forward? Well, here's what...

1) Kuranyi was born in Brazil to a German-Hungarian father and a Panamanian mother. He also qualified to play international football for Brazil, Hungary and Panama, but opted to represent Germany. He speaks English, German and Portuguese, as well as some Spanish and Hungarian.

2) Born in 1982, he played junior football in Brazil and Panama before moving to Germany as a 15-year-old in 1997 when he joined Stuttgart's youth team. He signed his first pro contract with the club four years later.

3) He finished top scorer in the Bundesliga in 2002-03, as Stuttgart finished second.

4) That Stuttgart side was nicked 'Junge Wilde' ('wild young ones') because of its attacking young stars, including Timo Hildebrand, Andreas Hinkel, Alexander Hleb, Philipp Lahm and Kuranyi.

5) He left Stuttgart to join Schalke in the summer of 2005, finishing as the club's top scorer in his first three seasons as they qualified each term for the UEFA Cup.

6) In April 2008, he scored four goals in Schalke's 5-0 win over Energie Cottbus. The fifth one was an own goal.

7) He made his debut for Germany in March 2003 in a European Championship qualifier against Lithuania. He played in the 2004 finals, and the 2005 Confederations Cup, but was left out of the squad for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.

8) He was back in the squad for the 2008 European Championship, and came on as a substitute in Germany's final defeat at the hands of Spain.

9) He now has 52 caps for his country, but they may be his last for a while. He was left out of the 18-man squad to face Russia in October 2008 and, after watching the first half from the stands with other unselected players, he left the stadium during the half-time interval and failed to return to the German team hotel. Afterwards, German team coach Joachim Löw said that he would never again select Kurányi for the national team.

10) The interest from Birmingham is not the first time a Premier League club has had Kuranyi in their sights. Earlier this year, he was linked with a move to Blackburn as they sought a replacement for Manchester City-bound Roque Santa Cruz.

Birmingham ready to make German international the best paid player in their history

Fancy winning £3,000 for FREE this month? Play Mirror Football Streak for your chance to win cash prizes! Start predicting now!