Ghana's all-time greatest scorer, Asamoah Gyan, alleges that his participation in the 2008 AFCON kept him from signing with Manchester City of the English Premier League.
Gyan was not performing at his peak at the time, which drew harsh criticism from Ghanaians who had high expectations for the Black Stars' chances of winning the competition when he was playing for Udinese in Italy's Serie A.
The player thought the criticisms were severe and was about to leave the Black Stars camp if former president of Ghana John Agyekum Kuffour hadn't stepped in.
Gyan, however, asserts in an interview that he was denied a transfer to Man City as a result of making the commitment to participate in the CAN 2008. Emmanuel Adebayor was subsequently acquired by Man City.
“Before CAN 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.
“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.”
Though Gyan hasn’t been actively involved in football since leaving Legon Cities in 2021, he hasn’t yet confirmed his retirement from the sport.