Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has admitted he should’ve spent more years in the Premier League following his brief stint with Sunderland between 2010 and 2011.
The 31-year-old arrived at the Stadium of Light as a record-signing from Stade Rennes, following a wonderful performance in the 2010 Fifa World Cup and although he scored 10 league goals in his maiden campaign as the Black Cats finished within the top-half on the log, he made an unexpected loan move to Al Ain in the Arabian Gulf League.
Gyan later made the move permanent and would go on to play for Shanghai SIPG in China four years later.
“I felt like the club wanted to do business at that time rather than have the player. There was some interest in me the January beforehand; Liverpool, Tottenham and even talk of Real Madrid, but I was playing well and when you play well naturally clubs are interested in you – but I didn’t expect the club to let me go the way they did,” Gyan told Rokerreport.
“When Al Ain made the offer, Sunderland came to me and told me it was a loan deal for one season and I think the fee they were offering blew their minds considering it was only a loan deal. They were looking at the figures. ”Sometimes, I think I should have stayed longer. The regret is me not playing so much in the best league in the world.
”When people ask me ‘how long did you play for Sunderland?’ I feel so bad I can only say one year. I feel like I could have achieved things in other top leagues too.
”Sunderland fans are fantastic. It isn’t a huge city but the stadium was always packed and they backed us with their heart – it was only a year but I really enjoyed it.”
However, Gyan, who is now on the books of Turkish side Keyserispor, is proud of his achievements in the Gulf region especially with Al Ain.
”I am very proud of what I did in the UAE for Al Ain, because I created a new legacy for myself,” he said.
”I created something for myself. I was the top scorer of all time in that league, the top foreign player of all time. I know it isn’t the Premier League, but I felt like I helped raise the standard there and others joined afterwards.”
He added: ”I went to Al Ain and I fell in love with the place, created a new legacy and they paid me good money and if we are honest with ourselves that is a big reason why we work.
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