Sampdoria recruits Indonesia's Kurniawan

JAKARTA (JP): Italian Serie A club Sampdoria has agreed to recruit Indonesian footballer Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto for three years, but he will only start playing this December.

Nirwan Bakrie of Pelita Jaya, who secured Kurniawan after he wrapped up his two-year stay with Swiss Premiership club FC Lucerne last May, said that the 20-year-old striker has moved to Sampdoria for a modest US$50,000 transfer fee.

"It's not a big deal, but it's an honor to play with a team with an internationally recognized reputation," Nirwan said at a press conference here on Monday.

Indonesia's most valuable player will leave for Genoa, Sampdoria's home base, this Friday.

Kurniawan will be the first Southeast Asian player to join the Serie A. He is the second Asian footballer to play in the world's richest league after Kazuyoshi Miura of Japan, who was on Genoa's books for three months last year.

As one of Sven Goran Eriksson's squad of 22, Kurniawan will earn a career-high monthly salary of Rp 9 million ($3,860).

"Kurniawan will receive the same treatment as other Sampdoria players," Nirwan confirmed. It remains unclear whether Eriksson will include Kurniawan in his starting line-up.

Kurniawan will join French star Christian Karembeu, Argentina's Faustino Ferron and Yugoslavia's Sinisa Mihailovic as imported players in Eriksson's side.

Sampdoria, the Italian champion in 1991 who managed only to finish in the middle of the table last season, has released its talented striker Enrico Chiesa to Parma.

Nirwan denied that his business activities in Italy had affected Sampdoria's decision to hire Kurniawan. "A big club like Sampdoria would not take such a silly consideration," Nirwan said. "They have observed Kurniawan since he joined a national training program in Italy two years ago."

Kurniawan was among 18 Indonesian teenage players who underwent a special stint with Sampdoria for Rp 2 billion ($860,000) from 1993 to 1995.

Sampdoria included him in its line-up for its Asian and Australian tour in 1994. Kurniawan scored a goal for Sampdoria in its 3-2 win over Indonesia that year. He also found the net, this time for Indonesia, in Sampdoria's 1-2 loss in Medan, North Sumatra last May.

Nirwan said that according to the clauses of the contract, Kurniawan will be released for international duties, such as the ASEAN Championships in September and the Asian Cup finals in December. (amd)