Asamoah Gyan has claimed that due to his patriotism, a move to Manchester City never happened.
Gyan claimed that Manchester City dropped their interest in him because he chose to compete in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which Ghana hosted.
“Before AFCON 2008, Man City were interested in signing me. Sven-Göran Eriksson was the coach at the time and they were keen to sign me,” he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV.
“My manager asked that I go and treat [some pains I had been feeling before the AFCON] and then I sign for Man City but I told him I wanted to play at the Africa Cup [of Nations] because it was going to be my first one and was going to be hosted by Ghana.
Gyan was included in the Black Stars squad and scored a penalty in the opener against Guinea, but it was a tournament to forget for the striker.
He was heavily criticised for being wasteful in front of goal, which forced him to leave camp with his senior brother Baffour Gyan. Gyan had to be persuaded to change his mind and return to camp by then-Ghana President John Kuffour.
He said, “So, when Ghanaians criticised me I was pained a lot because I left a lot of money to sacrifice and play at the tournament but they didn’t appreciate it.”
“So, they signed Adebayor after they had missed out on me,” he added.
Gyan later moved to the Premier League in 2010 after shining for the Black Stars at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He joined Sunderland but left after two years to play for Al Ain.
The 37-year-old also played for Shanghai SIPG, Kayserispor, and NorthEast United before returning to Ghana to sign for Legon Cities.
Gyan has been out of action for nearly two years but has not announced his retirement.