Why I Turned Down Manchester City To Play For Ghana - Asamoah Gyan

Asamoah Gyan, Ghana's all-time top scorer, says that his decision to play in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) cost him a move to Manchester City, one of the biggest teams in the English Premier League.

Gyan, who was playing for the Italian Serie A team Udinese at the time, wasn't at his best because he was hurt and wasn't in good shape. This made Ghanaians, who wanted the Black Stars to win the tournament, very angry.

If Ghana's then-president, John Agyekum Kuffour, hadn't stepped in, the player would have left the Black Stars camp because he thought the criticisms were too harsh.

But in an interview, Gyan said that he gave up a move to Man City so he could play in the 2008 World Cup. Instead, Man City signed Emmanuel Adebayor.

"Man City wanted to sign me before CAN 2008," he said. "The coach at the time was Sven-Goran Eriksson, and they wanted to sign me," he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV.

"My manager asked me to go get some pains I had been having before the AFCON treated and then sign with 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 Ghana was going to host it.

"So when Ghanaians said bad things about me, it hurt me a lot because I gave up a lot of money to play in the tournament, but they didn't appreciate it.

"They signed Adebayor instead of me because I wasn't available."

Gyan hasn't said he's done with football, even though he hasn't played since he moved out of Legon Cities in 2021.