Gyan has joined Indian club, North East FC
It is every footballers dream to actively remain at the highest level until retirement eventually knocks at the door.
However, mother nature does not give room for such a luxury as every young player will definitely wither and make way for younger generations.
The case of Asamoah Gyan who has joined Indian club, NorthEast FC is not different as a simple google search will give one a number of ex top notch footballers who buttered their final bred in virtually unknown destinations.
Gyan’s head has been on the chopping board since moving to India but now 33-years and at the twilight of his career, it is always advisable to settle for a less pressurizing league as the legs cannot carry him as fast as it could anymore.
Known as Baby Jet, he once dazzled Ghanaian fans on the local scene while at Dansoman based Liberty Professionals.
A move to Italian side, Udinese in 2003 opened doors to what was going to be a successful career afterwards.
The Italian sojourn was a “mixed-bag” of stints with Udinese and Modena on loan between 2004-2006.
The Gyan brand began a gradual ascension with a move to French club, Rennes in 2008 after the Italian romance.
Gyan took the French League by storm and his blistering performance sent English side, Sunderland running in search of his signature.
A move to Sunderland on August 30, 2010 sold Gyan’s image to Ghanaians as they(Ghanaians) had already tilted towards the English Premier League because Sulley Muntari,Michael Essien and John Mensah had whipped up the interest.
Ghana’s hope of Gyan further selling his image to the world by staying longer in the English Premier League diminished as he was moving away to the UAE in just a season.
Between 2011 and 2015, Gyan had had a loan and a permanent move to Al Ain in a life changing deal.
The £6million Al Ain paid for Gyan’s season loan deal spurred on the striker and Sunderland to consider the financial benefit of the temporary move.
The Baby Jet was dubbed a businessman more than a footballer ever since the Al Ain switch as his “moves” began to emphasize financial benefits instead of focus on ascending a legendary ladder with bigger European clubs.
That “businessman” tag began to bear some truth after a “bank-breaking” “move” to Chinese club , Shanghai SIPG with a reported $227,000 a week salary.
A striking “observance” of the “failing legs” was when Gyan’s goals began to give way to incessant injuries.
The then captain grappled with injuries and the numbers in terms of goal scoring reduced drastically.
Were Baby Jet’s legs beginning to fail him already? Was he right to have considered the “businessman” moves than thirst for legendary status and probably go hungry after retirement?
The injuries did not stop any time soon and it took Gyan out of China in search of a new club after falling down the pecking at SIPG.
A memory Gyan would want to quickly erase during club search was when a website, GetReading reported that he had failed a medical at Championship side, Reading FC in a bid to sign.
It became obvious that Gyan’s career descent had started. However in matter of weeks he was joining Saudi side, Al Ahli on a year loan from Shanghai SIPG.
Gyan’s claims of unfavorable treatment by Al Ahli fans saw him leave the club after the expiration of his loan spell.
Gyan was losing the energy and verve as mother nature had taken a toll on his one time quick legs.
A dream of ending a career on a considerably high was almost dead until Turkish side Kayserispor provided a lifeline for Gyan who took a pay-cut to join them in 2017.
However his failing legs limited his goals to single digits in his two seasons.
He finally left Turkey on August 9,2019.
The Accra Academy graduate could be heading for a pension pay in India at age 33-years.
A move to EastEnd United FC was met with mixed reactions but the final destination for the “failing legs” has always been a less popular country like India.
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