All relationships in football are temporary. From serial movers such as Christian Vieri to one-club men like Paul Scholes, a point in time always comes to cut the cord. Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ain have reached this stage with star player Asamoah Gyan following a huge bid from China’s Shanghai SIPG.
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The centre forward has proven the greatest foreign signing in UAE history, more successful than even Grafite at Al Ahli or Ricardo Oliveira at Al Jazira.
A stupendous 95 goals in 83 top-flight appearances have been plundered since his capture from Sunderland – initially on loan – in 2011. His stellar service in the Garden City has seen three AGL crowns, the 2013/14 President’s Cup and the 2012 Arabian Gulf Super Cup both lifted, while a tournament-leading 12 strikes in the 2014 AFC Champions League provided the impetus for the club’s enlivening run to the semi-finals.
Gyan has redefined what foreign signings mean in the Middle East, heading over prior to his prime rather than as a well-renumerated has-been. It has been a most fruitful relationship.
His decision to extend his contract until 2018 last summer was heralded. Yet fast forward 12 months and a different picture emerges which should see a pragmatic decision taken on his future.
Injury-plagued Gyan last term, a lingering quadriceps issue constantly flaring up. From starting all 26 AGL games in 2013/14, that figure fell to just 12 last term with a further five substitute appearances. From a fearsome 29 goals in a struggling side which limped home in sixth, he scored just 13 league goals in a triumphant 2014/15.
Even when pressed into action, Gyan represented a declining force. At 29, will he ever reach his previous heights?
He delivered in the highpressure moments two seasons ago, scoring the only goal in their President’s Cup triumph against Al Ahli and five times in the knockout stages of the 2014 ACL. This season, he was a late substitute in the President’s Cup semi-final defeat to Al Nasr.
And although he scored twice in the critical 3-3 round-of-16 second-leg draw as Al Ahli progressed in Asia’s premier club competition, he was on the periphery when an away goal crucially failed to appear in the first leg in Dubai.
In the face of these displays comes an overture from the freespending Chinese Super League. It’s an emerging competition and a new market for big names players, with Chinese clubs the second biggest spenders in the winter window. They have the cash and the will to tempt Al Ain.
SIPG boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is also well aware of Gyan’s prowess from his brief spell as Nasr technical director two years ago. The Swede’s side sit second in the table and covet a leading marksman to boost their charge in the remaining half of the campaign.
The Ghana skipper represents a bountiful supply of goals, at his best. It is up to the Boss to decide whether they want to keep this source themselves or gamble their main striker is on the wane.
The UAE’s most-successful club will need to use all their acumen to make this call. It will be one which has repurcussions for seasons to come. But big money for a 29-year-old, no matter how brilliant, is too good to turn down.
