UAE league champions Al Ain say their permanent signing of Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan will help make great in the world of football.
Al Ain finally confirmed the retention of Gyan on a four-year contract from English Premier League outfit Sunderland on Friday night.
The 26-year-old striker, who was the top-scorer in the UAE’s Etisalat Pro League this season with 27 goals, agreed to stay, thus ending weeks of speculation about his future.
His move to the UAE shocked many fans because of the popularity of the English Premier League but Al Ain insist it falls in line with their plans of taking the club to another level.
“The Al Ain Club’s Board of Directors, chaired by Shaikh Abdullah Mohammad Khalid Al Nahyan, always works on preparing success for Al Ain’s football team to implement the club’s vision of having the club as one of the best professional football clubs in the world,†said the press release.
Sunderland also confirmed on their official website that Gyan has officially cemented his move to Al Ain.
Gyan arrived at Al Ain last season on loan from Sunderland and fitted in superbly.
The Ghanaian led his new club to the league crown after a gap of eight years, prompting Al Ain to do all they could to snap him up permanently.
More than once Gyan has gone on record to admit that he feels at home with Al Ain Club in the UAE league.
The striker was on target with 27 goals in all competitions.
Though plagued with an injury, Gyan also managed to score 22 goals in 18 matches to emerge as the highest scorer in the Etisalat Pro League, while he scored another three goals in the Etisalat Cup and also two in the President’s Cup.
Gyan started his career with Liberty FC in Ghanha before moving on to Udinese FC in 2003. A year later he moved to Modena FC and in 2006 he returned to Udinese FC.
In 2008 Ghanaian moved to Rennes FC in France and scored 18 goals during the first of his two seasons there before moving to Sunderland in 2010.