Gyan blossoms in Garden City

Asamoah Gyan became a hero when he stepped foot in Al Ain. He repaid that faith by putting them in the title race, mid-season. He missed a month of action because of the African Cup of Nations.

Even though he missed a crucial penalty in Ghana’s semi-final loss to Zambia and returned in the wee hours, on his own chartered jet, at his own expense, but psychologically down, the Ghanaian was pepped up by the presence of thousands of Al Ain faithful at the airport.

He was still their hero.

And now, he has gone down Al Ain folklore as one of the main men responsible for Al Ain sealing a record 10th UAE League title. The 26-year-old also waltzed his way to becoming the top scorer in the League. It has been a dream journey for Gyan where parading his wares in the UAE top-flight has seemed like a piece of cake. But the time has come to make a decision his future and though Gyan has insisted he is happy to be here, but he gave nothing away about whether he will stay or leave.

The Ghanaian arrived at the Garden City club on a one-year loan from Engish Premiership side Sunderland and that spell ends on June 30. Al Ain are keen on getting him on a permanent deal but Gyan hasn’t heard anything yet from Sunderland. He also said that there were offers from other clubs.

“I need to just take my time. I don’t make decisions on my own. I have to go back to my family and my agent and I will see where my future lies. I need to take the right decision. So far, I’m 100 percent happy here. I don’t know if I might stay in Al Ain,’’ Gyan said at a press conference at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.

Gyan said that he hasn’t had any contact with Sunderland since his arrival in Al Ain and doesn’t know if they want him to return. “I haven’t spoken to anybody from Sunderland since I’ve been here. I heard the manager wanted to call me, I waited for his call but no call came. I am still here,” he said.

He also doused doubts that he came to Al Ain for a bigger pay check. “Before I came to Al Ain, everything was a bit strange. People were talking about why I came to Al Ain. But everything has been positive. Everything is going well. As everybody knows, we won the League. I think everybody has done an incredible job. We have achieved our aim this season.” Gyan also insisted that he was on an indefinite break with the Ghana National team and that he had not retired. Gyan was made the scapegoat for Ghana’s loss to Zambia in the African Cup of Nations.

“When things go wrong, you will be criticised. I accept the criticism because I criticise myself as well.

“I sent a letter to the federation that I needed a break because of psychological reasons. People quoted me wrong. They said that I had quit but I didn’t. It was a break. Personally, I felt down because of the penalty miss in the World Cup and in the African Cup. It has affected me,’’ he said.

And Gyan said that he would return to the National team but was not sure when. He said that he would meet up with Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah this week. Gyan is slated to meet Appiah in Dubai over the coming weekend.

“I have to just psych myself up and go back strong to the team again. It will be very soon. I never quit the national team. The national team made me more famous than any club side. I became famous when I played in the World Cup. I can’t just ignore the national team. They made me who I am today,’’ Gyan said.