UAE’s Al-Ain in prime position for signing Ghana’s Gyan

Ahmed Abd El Rasoul , Tuesday 6 Mar 2012

Despite the mysterious Qatari interest, Al-Ain is in the driving seat to win the battle to sign Gyan

Asamoah Gyan
Asamoah Gyan

UAE’s club Al-Ain is confident of keeping the services of their on-loan Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan on permanent basis, the club’s chief executive Carlo Nohra revealed on Monday.

The 26- year-old Gyan joined Al-Ain on loan until next June from English Premier League side Sunderland, but suspicions that the Ghanaian star might stay with the Arabian team started circulating especially following reports that an unnamed Qatari club and also a second UAE team are interested in him.

"Everyone is declaring their interest in Gyan, and rightly so (because) he is performing very well and everyone should be interested," Nohra was quoted as saying by Skysports.com.

"But we are very comfortable with our legal situation in this. We have a contract in place which has certain provisions for a permanent transfer so we are in no rush to make the decision now,” he added.

Gyan delivered outstanding performances with Al-Ain scoring 11 times in 10 league appearances to send the club five points clear at the top of the UAE league.

Recent reports suggested that Al-Ain, who paid £6million to land Gyan for the season, can pay a further £3million to make the deal permanent.

"It's important for our fans to know that the club is comfortable with its own legal position in respect to all of this,” explained Nohra. "We won't be rushed into it as a knee-jerk reaction to what the market may be doing. We are in the driving seat and we will remain in that position until the clauses in the deal expire. The player himself has a role in this and so do Sunderland," he said.

"The agreement that binds the three of us gives Al-Ain priority, but it also gives the player the right to come out and say what he wants as well,” Nohra added.

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