Steve Bruce has hit out at Asamoah Gyan after the Ghana striker left Sunderland to join United Arab Emirates side Al Ain on loan.
Bruce claimed Gyan had assured him he wanted to stay at Sunderland, and only found out about the loan deal on Saturday morning.
"I had a conversation with Gyan 48 hours ago, with his agent. He shook me by the hand and he said he wanted to stay here, play here because the nonsense had gone on too long," Bruce said after Sunderland's 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.
"I will let everyone else make up their conclusions over why he has left the Premier League to go to the United Arab Emirates. What are you going to the United Arab Emirates for? No disrespect to the country of course.
"Sometimes things disappoint you in football which are quite unbelievable. If we are being brutally honest he has been unhappy and unsettled for weeks and months. But to start with it was Real Madrid and it has ended up with the United Arab Emirates. It is disappointing."
Gyan, who cost the Black Cats £13 million last summer, has three years left on his Sunderland contract, but Bruce admits he does not expect Gyan to return to the Stadium of Light.
"He can come back but I can't see it," Bruce said. "All I will say is that we got the best possible deal for Sunderland Football Club. The one thing I would say is that I have never ever kept a person at a football club who didn't want to be there and that belief will always be there, whether I manage Sunderland or any other club.
"If you don't want to play for the team, the club or the jersey what is the point? We decided to cut our cloth and get the best deal possible and move on. We will not panic. All we can do is batten down the hatches and get on with it."
