Frédéric the Great of Seville

Annie Lennox is belting out Sweet Dreams as Frédéric Kanouté leans back and considers whether this is the best moment of his career. The irony seems to be passing him by. We are in the pine-floored gym of Sevilla FC's training ground, and Enzo Maresca is pounding out sets of five 30m sprints between one-minute rests. Kanouté takes his trademark time to develop an answer, it could be the first time a mental muscle has been needed within these four walls. This is a place of physical, not cerebral, worship and the music is like grass on a pitch: you only notice when it's bad.

'Sweet taste'
Fredi grins and agrees that the Sweet Dreams theme is pretty apposite. "Since I came here I've played in six finals, scored in five, won five. You could say I'm not unhappy." He relaxes as the ticker-tape of memory streams by. "When I signed, I had never won a trophy, and I pointed out I wasn't a 'born' goalscorer. Now I'm in the best scoring form of my life and I have five medals. I can't tell you if a medal 'feels' better if you've scored in the final because I've never lifted a trophy without getting a goal. It might be almost the same... but it's a sweet taste to score an important goal and win a final."

Crucial goals
He's being modest. You could argue no other striker has made a greater impact on a club in two seasons than Kanouté has at Sevilla. The club had won nothing since the Spanish Cup in 1948 when Kanouté came on at half-time in the 2006 UEFA Cup final. Middlesbrough were clawing their way back into the match until Fredi gave the crucial assist to Maresca for 2-0 before adding the fourth. In the 2006 UEFA Super Cup thrashing of FC Barcelona, he killed off Frank Rijkaard's European champions by making it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time. At Hampden Park, in the 2007 UEFA Cup final, he put Sevilla 2-1 ahead in extra-time and when RCD Espanyol equalised, he scored one of the three winning penalties. A month later, Kanouté netted the winner in Sevilla's 1-0 victory in the Spanish Cup final over Getafe CF. A week before the 2007/08 season, he put away a hat-trick against Real Madrid CF at the Bernabéu to give Sevilla their first Spanish Super Cup triumph. Very sweet dreams.

Destiny
Kanouté believes Sevilla's destiny may well be to win the UEFA Champions League, despite the tragic death of his team-mate Antonio Puerta and the abrupt departure of coach Juande Ramos to his old stomping ground White Hart Lane. Tottenham Hotspur FC fans have had to suffer their former striker scoring against them twice, including the winner in last season's UEFA Cup quarter-final, but they will have enjoyed watching Kanouté help Sevilla defeat Arsenal FC 3-1 in Spain en route to topping Group H. "If the Champions League was a nine-month championship we simply wouldn't be able to win it. But we do have a good chance of winning this format. We are a great cup team, and the knockout stage is so compact and has such momentum that one big win in either tie can put you into the next round. We could go to the final and win."

Different man
There is no doubt Kanouté has changed. A horrible series of injuries put a question mark against him at West Ham United FC and Spurs, but he's a team leader at Sevilla. Last season, his 12th as a professional, he beat his previous best for league goals (eleven with West Ham in 2000/01 and 2001/02), lashing in 21 in the Primera División and eight more while winning the UEFA and Spanish Cups. How, Spurs fans in particular want to know, can he suddenly score 29 goals in 47 matches? "I'm a more intelligent footballer now," he concludes. "At Spurs and West Ham I tried to be all over the pitch, now I'm more efficient.

'Football intelligence'
"I don't like the glib answer that I'm more selfish as a striker, because that's not true. It's sometimes appropriate to pass to a team-mate and I'll always do that. I guess a good striker will take the shot 80 per cent of the time. But forwards have to know the best position and get there in the most efficient way. It's football intelligence. It may also be something to do with the different culture in Spanish football. The fans won't be down on you if you're not haring all over the pitch, but you are efficient and you score. In England, whether you score or not, the fans appreciate you running, working, tackling, fighting to the end.
 
'Immense spirit'
"It's not as simple as hard work versus intelligence, because I learned a great deal in England that has helped me win with Sevilla. I added fighting spirit, I learned not to be scared of physical contact. The Premiership is perhaps my favourite league in the world. The spirit on the pitch and among the fans is terrific. That's what I enjoyed most as a footballer in England: the immense spirit and loyalty to the values of the game."

'Good footballer'
Our conversation is closing. Annie Lennox has long been silenced and Aretha Franklin is demanding R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - a neat musical book end to Sweet Dreams. "Would you prefer to be remembered as a winner, a goalscorer or simply a footballer," I ask, thinking the answer is obvious. Kanouté pays off with the wider view. "I'd like to be recalled for all three, but above all I'm a footballer," he grins. "The simple fact is that playing soccer makes me happy. Scoring goals is part of my professional work and I enjoy it, but if people look back I want them to think: 'He was a good footballer.' " They probably will.

This is an abridged version of an article that appears in the latest edition of Champions magazine, the official magazine of the UEFA Champions League. To subscribe, click here.