Sunderland AFC news: Ex-Cats star pocketed £3m per goal in China after leaving Stadium of Light in shock move

The Ghanian international made a big impression on Wearside, scoring 10 top-flight goals and netting important strikes against Newcastle United, Chelsea and Wigan Athletic.

Just a year later, though, it was confirmed on the Sunderland website that Gyan would leave on a season-long loan to club Al Ain FC in a shock move.

Then chairman Niall Quinn explained that the deal financial benefits of the deal for both Sunderland and the player.

It was speculated that a fee of up to £6 million was paid for the loan deal, with Gyan receiving up to four times his previous salary at the Abu Dhabi club.

Gyan finished the season with Al Ain by helping them to the league title and was the top goalscorer with 22 goals.

Gyan eventually made the move to the middle east permanent and stayed for three further seasons before moving to the money-rich Chinese Super League.

The striker scored eight goals during his two-year spell with side Shanghai SIPG but reportedly earned around £3 million per goal, according to a report in the Daily Star.

That means Gyan earned around £23.6 million during his time with Shanghai SIPG after scoring a total of eight goals in 26 matches across all competitions with the club.

Speaking about the move away from Sunderland back in 2020, Gyan said: “I was going for one season for £6 million pounds and they [Sunderland] were interested because it was good money, they were even pushing for the move because the money involved was good for a loan deal.

"Personally I was concerned about the fans, about how they will feel and whether they will be happy if I move because I was the top man there, Darren Bent had left so I was their lead man and they liked me.

“But they [Sunderland] told me they knew how to deal with the fans and that I should accept the move to UAE.

“I went there and the atmosphere was great and I fell in love with the team and the fans. They treated me well so I decided to stay after my loan deal.”

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