Samuel Coffey

Sam Kuffour Jr. carries a name that invites comparison before he has kicked a ball in senior football: his father, Samuel Kuffour, won the Champions League with Bayern Munich and played for Ghana. The younger Kuffour, born in Germany, has chosen to build his own path through non-league football rather than a direct route through elite academies, even though he has been eligible for both Ghana and England at youth level.

He came through the youth ranks at Brentford and West Ham United before a spell at the Elite Coaching Academy and a season at Hapoel Be'er Sheva in Israel. His senior career began away from the professional game, at Cheshunt and then Maldon & Tiptree, where he scored four goals in 29 appearances as a centre-back. That form at non-league level earned him a move to Colchester United, whom he joined on a free transfer and with whom he has since signed an extended contract.

Game time at Colchester has come gradually, with loan spells at Maldon & Tiptree and Hornchurch used to keep him playing regularly alongside his senior appearances for the club. He has not yet won a senior cap for Ghana.