Former Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, has said he rejected a move to Manchester City to play the 2008 AFCON due to his patriotism.
Ghana hosted the continent’s most prestigious tournament with Egypt emerging as the winner while the Black Stars came third.
According to the former Sunderland forward, the Premier League side dropped their interest in him because he chose to compete in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON].
“Before AFCON 2008, Man City were interested in signing me. Sven-Göran Eriksson was the coach at the time and they were keen to sign me,” he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV.
“My manager asked that I go and treat [some pains I had been feeling before the AFCON] and then I sign for Man City but I told him I wanted to play at the Africa Cup [of Nations] because it was going to be my first one and was going to be hosted by Ghana.”
Gyan, despite scoring a penalty in the opener against Guinea, was heavily slammed for his wastefulness in front of goals.
However, Gyan together with his brother, Baffour Gyan left the camp due to the criticisms but made a return to the team through the efforts of the then-Ghana President, John Kufuor.
“So, when Ghanaians criticised me I was pained a lot because I left a lot of money to sacrifice and play at the tournament but they didn’t appreciate it,” he said.
“So, they signed Adebayor after they had missed out on me,” he added.
Gyan later moved to the Premier League in 2010 after shining for the Black Stars at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He joined Sunderland but left after two years to play for Al Ain.
The 37-year-old also played for Shanghai SIPG, Kayserispor, and NorthEast United before returning to Ghana to sign for Legon Cities.
Gyan has been out of action for nearly two years but has not announced his retirement.
He remains the country’s top goal scorer with 51 goals and Africa’s top goal scorer with six goals.
