Asamoah Gyan is on the verge of a record-breaking transfer to Shanghai SIPG after Al Ain accepted a lucrative offer from the Chinese Super League side.
The Arabian Gulf League champions have apparently given the Ghanaian striker permission to travel to China this week to begin negotiations, with Al Ain estimated to bank €20 million (Dh81m) – the highest amount paid for a UAE-based player.
The deal for Gyan himself, believed to be a three-year contract, is worth close to €250,000 per week according to Xinhua news agency. The forward, who has scored 95 goals in 83 league matches for Al Ain since joining in 2011, signed an extension to his current contract last summer that runs until 2018.
However, it appears the sheer size of the proposal from Shanghai for both the Garden City club and Gyan, 29, has convinced both parties to part company. Last season was Gyan’s least productive for Al Ain, with the Ghana captain dogged by a persistent quadriceps problem. He played only 17 times in the league – five as a substitute – but still managed to score 13 times.
Gyan arrived at Al Ain from England’s Sunderland in 2011, initially on loan, for a fee of £6m (Dh34.3m). A similar amount was paid to make the move permanent at the conclusion of his initial season, in which he finished top scorer in the UAE top flight. Gyan scored 22 goals to help Al Ain secure a first league championship in eight years. He collected the Golden Boot the following two seasons as well.
In four years with Al Ain, Gyan has fired the club to three league titles and one President’s Cup crown. Last year, he finished top scorer in the Asian Champions League, finding the net 12 times as Al Ain advanced to the semi-finals.
Such a record has convinced Shanghai to make their move. The club, currently second in the Chinese Super League, are coached by Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former England manager who spent five months in 2013 as technical director at Dubai’s Al Nasr.
Shanghai are second in the 16-team Super League table, one point behind leaders Beijing Guoan after 17 matches.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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