Black Stars striker Asamoah Gyan has completed his permanent move from Sunderland to United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain on a three-year deal.
The Baby Jet spent last season in the Middle East after initially joining the Etisalat Pro-League champions on loan, and went on to score 25 goals in 23 appearances, but has now signed a reported £150,000-a-week contract.
Al-Ain's chief executive officer Carlo Nohra exclusively revealed to Goal.com that a deal was close last week with Gyan just needed to fly into Dubai to apply the finishing touches.
"The player has informed us of his intention to stay with the club, which allowed us to invoke the agreement with Sunderland for a permanent transfer,” Nohra told Goal.com.
“We’ve worked through all the details and things have progressed to the point where we now need to have some ink on paper.
"He’s on holiday at the moment but we have a three-way agreement signed off with him and Sunderland before we depart for pre-season training in Austria at the weekend
Gyan made 37 appearances during his year-long spell on Wearside with Sunderland, managing to net 11 league goals before falling out with previous manager Steve Bruce.
After Al-Ain paid a loan fee of around £6m last summer, the figure for his permanent transfer is believed to in the same region, meaning Sunderland have recouped the fee initially paid for him in 2010.
And Nohra believes the pivotal part he played in the UAE side’s title success means he's worth every penny.
"He contributed greatly to the success that we had last season and conducted himself very well, which is important in this part of the world,” added Nohra.
“We’ve had some high-profile player coming to these shores and they have all helped a little but now we hope this trend will continue. The standard of football here is not the best but it is certainly improving."**