Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan says he does not regret moving to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Pro-League at age 26 and later to the Chinese Super League with Shanghai SIPG in 2015 because he did so to guarantee his future financially.
Gyan has been criticised by pundits for abandoning top-flight European football for money after his sensational loan switch to UAE Pro-League club Al Ain in 2011 from English Premier League club Sunderland when he was arguably at the height of his powers.
However, the 32-year-old says he does not agree with his critics describing them as "Professors of every job".
According to Gyan who has gone on to become the Black Stars record scorer with 51 goals in 105 appearances, he decided to move to Al Ain at the age of 26 and later Shanghai SIPG because he wanted to guarantee his life and future.
Gyan who was on a reported salary of £227,000 per week at Shanghai SIPG explain
"Obviously, I do not agree with these criticisms, everyone thinks of themselves as Professors of every job, but nobody knows what you are going to do, of course, the team that I will go to is important, but we are human beings … doesn't everyone work for money? There were so many differences between the offered wages and my family, I guaranteed my life and my future.
"If you leave football you have a few sentences about you but nobody knows what you are going to do. It is my life, I chose this. I have done very good work in the places I went to. China, I played in France, England and Italy before Dubai and I do not regret the decisions I have made in my life."
He also gave his approval to the decision of Congolese striker Cedric Bakambu, who at age 26 is making a similarly lucrative transfer by joining the Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan which will incidentally make him the most expensive African player in history when he pens a bumper £16m-a-year contract in China's capital city.
Bakambu has already undergone his medical with the £65m deal set to be finalised. Beijing Guoan have not only agreed to pay the £35m release clause for the Congolese striker but also all the imposed tax on the star – which will total around £30m.
"Bakambu did very well in Spain and was 26 years old, and was offered a figure of 18 million euros a year and now he is gone. Are you going to raise your career or to guarantee that you will be financially secure?".
He also revealed that over 20 clubs wanted to sign him before he joined Turkish SuperLig club Kayserispor last July.
Gyan who was then a free agent following the expiration of his contract at Shanghai SIPG told the Anadolu News Agency that he received offers from numerous European clubs including Bursaspor before signing a two year deal with the Anatolian Stars as Kayserispor is known.
"I got offers from Turkey before Kayserispor. Over 20 managers called me. It was Kayserispor who convince me. The first half of the season was unlucky for me but I'm working very hard for the second half.
"Our team did a very good job in the first half. We have a very good technical director, a good understanding of tactics, a very important place thanks to him, we have a great president, they have supported me since the day I arrived, I have a saying, I can be a very easy hero but what is important to me is not how you started, but how it ends. "Some things are too early to talk, see how I finish, not how I begin."
Graphic Sports