Asamoah Gyan has no regrets about leaving Sunderland and the English Premier League, and says he has several options on the table when his loan spell with Al Ain ends next summer.
The 25-year-old Ghana international striker had an acrimonious parting from Sunderland in August when he joined the Pro League club on a 12-month loan.
Steve Bruce, the Black Cats manager, was furious at the time, saying "parasites" had turned his player's head over a big money move, but Gyan said he was delighted with the way things have turned out and does not know if he will return to England.
"I'm really enjoying myself," Gyan said. "It's really working out well for me and I'm really happy for now. I have no regrets at all about leaving Sunderland because everyone supported me, my family, everyone was positive so I moved without any doubt."
His loan spell with the 2003 Asian Champions League winners expires following the end of the Pro League season, and there are likely to be no shortage of takers for the striker who still has two-and-a-half years of his contract to run at Sunderland.
"Yes, I am on loan for one season with options," Gyan said. "I will decide at the end of the season whether I am coming back to the Premiership or going somewhere else.
"I'm still a player with Sunderland, but I have four or five options on how things are going to be and then I will decide where my future lies."
Gyan cost Sunderland a club record fee of £13.2 million (Dh77.98m) when they signed him from Rennes in August 2010 after he came to prominence for Ghana during last year's World Cup in South Africa.
He was Sunderland's top-scorer in his debut season with 10 league goals, but was continually linked with a move.
At the time Gyan responded to Bruce's remarks that the offer was too good to turn down, and that he did not have a choice of staying once Sunderland accepted Al Ain's offer.
Two months on, while admitting that the standard in the UAE is not as high as the Premier League, he says his reason for being there are more than just about the huge salary he is reportedly earning.
"Everybody knows the English Premiership is top in the world with more exposure and everything but the UAE league is improving in terms of football," Gyan said. "When I went there I thought to myself 'this is not what people are talking about, they are playing good football'.
"People are looking up to me in Africa. I have more fans in Europe. After last season, who knows? Maybe I am getting more exposure in this league - it is improving, and I think I might be able to help that League improve."
Al Ain sit second in the Pro League table behind champions Al Jazira after three games, with Gyan having scored two league goals so far, but he will be missing for a number of league games in the new year when he turns out at the African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
With a number of the traditional powerhouses missing, Ghana are among the favourites to win the title for the first time since 1982. "It's been a while since we won it and we want to win it," said Gyan.
"Most of the big guys are out now - I'm talking about Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria - so now people are looking up to us. It's good pressure for Ghana. We will go there and see what happens because the other countries will go there to win as well. It's not going to be easy but we will see if we can do that."
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
UAE%20athletes%20heading%20to%20Paris%202024
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Result
Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')
West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Oppenheimer
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