The signing of Asamoah Gyan for £13 million was seen as a bit of a coup for Steve Bruce’s Sunderland in 2010. On the back of a successful World Cup campaign with Ghana, Gyan was a high profile performer due to his goalscoring exploits, his infamous penalty miss and his general eccentric personality.
Upon signing on deadline day, Gyan had to wait for his debut until the impending international break where we took on Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.
In typical fashion, Lee Cattermole was sent off for
two reckless challenges early doors and was given an early shower leaving Sunderland down to ten men. This led to the potential of Gyan getting little to no game time as Bruce possibly would have wanted to shut up shop and take a point.
In actual fact, Bruce went for broke with Gyan playing up top with Darren Bent as the away side chased the win even with ten men. As the saying goes, fortune favours the brave and Bruce earned his bit of luck when Gyan scored the opening goal of the game with an acrobatic finish from a Jordan Henderson cross.
After the game, Gyan stated that he was impressed that Bruce was brave enough to let him feature, despite being a man light from the 22nd minute.
“It was really, really difficult for us after having a man sent off in the first half. Being a striker, I did not expect to get on because of that,” Gyan admitted.
“I thought it was possible I might get on with 20 minutes to go, but the manager did so well tactically and I thank him for having confidence in me.
After the game, Gyan was quizzed about his debut, his new surroundings and his first goal for the club in his first game for them.
“The goal was very, very amazing and it was great that it was for my new club.
“Jordan did so well, taking one man on and producing a perfect cross to create my goal.
“It was one of my best goals – I don’t score goals like that all the time!”
Gyan went on to be an infectious player for the club and became a fans favourite during his one season at the Stadium of Light. With lightning pace and finishing ability, he seemed a perfect fit for the Premier League. However, the financial incentives offered in the Middle East saw Gyan jump ship for Qatar early into the following season much to the bemusement of many.
One must ponder what could have been given the ability that Gyan possessed and whether it was wasted talent leaving the Premier League for a league at a much lower standard.
