After four trophy-laden years with Al Ain, forward Asamoah Gyan bid an emotional farewell to the Arabian Gulf League champions after his move to Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG was made official.
A happy send off
The Arabian Gulf League champions wished the 29-year-old Ghanaian farewell at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday night, after they accepted a substantial offer from Shanghai SIPG, reported to be almost €20 million (Dh81m).
He arrived in China on Wednesday to sign a three-year deal worth about €250,000 a week in salary, according to reports.
Part of Al Ain’s ‘family’
Gyan was visibly upset when he was making his farewell, saying he had “become one of Al Ain’s family members” and thanked the club’s board, coaching staff and fans for their support over the past four years, describing his time at the Garden City club as the most “exceptional” of his 12-year career.
Emotional farewell
Gyan said: “It is difficult to speak words of farewell, but this is life. I will leave to enter a new challenge with another team but my heart will remain related to Al Ain.”
Prolific Gyan
The former Udinese striker arrived from English side Sunderland in 2011 initially on loan for a fee of about £6m (Dh34.3m).
A similar fee the following season made the move permanent and Gyan proved a prolific acquisition, netting 95 goals in 83 league games and helping Al Ain to three league titles and one President’s Cup crown.
Left a mark
Although he was sad to leave the club, Gyan said he was “happy with all I have done for my team as I beat the records of all foreign players in Al Ain”.
He said his goalscoring accomplishments meant he had “left a mark for each player joining Al Ain to remember me by and I shall always be proud of my achievements with the leading team in the UAE”.
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Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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