Asamoah Gyan was sold for five reasons

Suinderland chairman Niall Quinn outlined the five reasons which prompted Sunderland to accept a loan deal for striker Asamoah Gyan.

The Ghana international sealed a lucrative season-long deal with the United Arab Emirates club Al-Ain on Saturday, less than 48 hours after informing manager Steve Bruce of his desire to fight for his place at Sunderland.

Bruce has implied that Gyan moved solely for financial gain, but Quinn confirmed the club had their reasons for letting him go.

He said: ‘From the moment Asamoah returned for pre-season training we could tell that there were people trying to move him on.

'Throughout this time we were receiving real interest from Al-Ain, but it looked as if that had lost momentum by last Wednesday.

'Come Friday, the chairman of Al-Ain and his advisors had flown into Newcastle and arrived at our training ground.

‘They were very professional but determined to sign the player and at this point we took a number of things into consideration: the player’s obviously negative demeanour in and around the training ground; the fact that the transfer window in the UAE had over 50 days remaining, meaning this was unlikely to go away; the clear desire of the player to leave; the forthcoming African Nations Cup, which would have meant losing Asamoah for up to six weeks in the new year; the obvious economic benefits to our club in the terms of the final deal laid out to us.’

It has also been reported that Sunderland have vehemently denied newspaper reports that they are considering the position of manager Bruce. Sources claimed there was no question about his future at the club.