Speaking before Sunderland's match with Chelsea about the shock loan move of Asamoah Gyan to the United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain, manager Steve Bruce said the following:
Asamoah Gyan Has Not Been “Himself” According To Steve Bruce
Anyone who has seen Asamoah play will know that he hasn’t been himself in recent months. This option suits all parties at the present time and the club is well-protected in the deal.
Asamoah has three years remaining on his contract and of course my wish would be that he finds his spark again and we see him in red and white stripes next season in the form that first attracted us to him.
It seems a weak argument. Plenty of Premier League strikers haven't been themselves recently: Fernando Torres, Carlos Tevez, Jermain Defoe and Bobby Zamorra come to mind. None of them, however, have been loaned out to a Championship side, let alone a side in the UAE (though maybe that'd be best for Torres). Up until yesterday, Steve Bruce had been denying that Asamoah Gyan wanted to leave, but this move smells of Gyan wanting to leave because of the money that he's likely to get at Al-Ain.
While Bruce has given Gyan the chance to return to Sunderland, it seems very unlikely that he will. Nicklas Bendtner should be able to fill the goalscoring and spectacular misses void that Sunderland have at the moment, starting today against Chelsea.
For more on Gyan’s move and everything about Sunderland, follow SB Nation’s Sunderland Blog, The Roker Report.
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