Player Profile

Ziegler enjoyed by far the best season of his career in 2009/10. He made 31 league starts – more than in the previous four years combined – to help Sampdoria to fourth place and Champions League qualification, 12 months after they finished in the bottom half of the table.

Left-back Ziegler, who can also play in midfield, is now valued at about £8.5m and has recently been linked with the likes of Juventus and Liverpool.

Ziegler’s international prospects have improved since Ottmar Hitzfeld became national coach after Euro 2008. His first four caps had spanned three-and-a-half years but Hitzfeld parachuted him into the starting line-up against Finland in November 2008 and he responded with the winning goal.

Ziegler began his career at Grasshoppers Zurich and joined Tottenham in 2004. He initially impressed, winning one of the club’s Young Player of the Year awards in his first season, but he went out on loan to Hamburg and Wigan before finally joining Sampdoria in 2007.