Gyan: Keeping his options open

The 26-year-old is currently on a year-long loan deal with United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain after making a shock exit from Sunderland only a season into a four-year contract.

Black Cats boss Martin O'Neill has hinted the Ghanaian is unlikely to return to Wearside as the UAE club attempt to thrash out a permanent deal for a man whose temporary switch cost them around £6million.

However, despite chief executive Carlo Nohra having recently voiced his confidence that Gyan will stay, the man himself is determined to keep his options open.

Gyan told Sport.360: "Honestly, I'm very happy since I came here, everything seems to be perfect.

"Definitely if you go somewhere and everything there is perfect, you want to stay, but we are still in negotiations and we will have to wait and see until the end of my loan deal.

"It could be anywhere. I'm ready to go anywhere and I need to make the right decision. Any decision I make, I think, has to be the right decision for me, not for the people."

Gyan has scored 24 goals during his time in the UAE, 19 of them in 16 Pro-League appearances to help Al-Ain clinch the title.

Former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce had high hopes of his £13million-plus signing when he landed him in the wake of a series of impressive performances for his country at the 2010 World Cup finals.

He scored 11 goals in all competitions last season, but ended the campaign as the club's only fit specialist striker with Darren Bent having left for Aston Villa in January and with loan signing Danny Welbeck and Fraizer Campbell injured.

The summer brought rumours of a possible move away from the north-east, but Bruce thought the matter had been resolved before it emerged that he had left the club on loan in September.