Most expensive Ghanaian transfers abroad

After West Ham broke their club transfer record to sign Swansea City forward Andre Ayew in the region of £20.5m, Pulse.com.gh has compiled a list of most expensive football transfers, which details the highest transfer fees ever paid for Ghanaian players.

Michael Essien (£24.4m) - Lyon to Chelsea

Chelsea completed a swoop for Ghana midfielder Michael Essien for what was a club record fee of £24.4 in the summer of 2005. Coach Jose Mourinho and the Blues were in his pursuit all over the summer and had several bids turned down, until Lyon finally accepted the aforementioned fee.

Baba Rahman (£21.7million) - Augsburg to Chelsea

Chelsea were in the market for a new left-back after selling Filipe Luis back to Atletico Madrid earlier in the summer of 2015. The Blues eventually found the right player in the name of Baba Rahman to replace the Brazilian after paying £21.7million to Augsburg for the Ghanaian.

Andre Ayew ( £20.5million) - Swansea to West Ham

After big money bids for Alexandre Lacazette, Michy Batshuayi and Carlos Bacca were rejected earlier on this summer, West Ham decided to continue their pursuit for an attacking player striker slightly closer to home with Andre Ayew. The Eglish club signed Swansea's Ayew on a three-year deal for a club record fee of £20.5million.Asamoah Gyan (£13m) - Rennes to Sunderland

In August 2010, English club Sunderland broke the club's transfer record to sign Asamoah Gyan. Steve Bruce, then Sunderland manager, had been trying to secure Gyan's services from French side Rennes after selling Kenwyne Jones to Stoke before the start of the Premier League season. The deal for Gyan was eventually completed around 15 minutes before the transfer deadline on 31st August..

Kwadwo Asamoah (€18m) - Udinese to Juventus

The Ghana midfielder made his mark in the Serie A with Udinese to become on top of the wish-list of several big guns. Italian giants Juventus beat Arsenal, AC Milan and Chelsa to his signature for a fee of €18m million in July 2012.

Asamoah Gyan (€17m) - Al Ain to Shanghai SIPG

After spending three seasons at Al Ain, the dimunitive Ghana striker decided to leave the United Arab Emirates club as he wanted greener pastures elsewhere. In the summer of 2015, Shanghai SIPG splashed €17m to sign him on a three-year deal. It was then revealed that Gyan's weekly salary of £227,000 with his Chinese club instantly made him one of the world's best paid football players

Sulley Muntari (£11m) - Portsmouth to Inter Milan

Then Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho, who failed to sign Frank Lampard for the Italian club, was in the hunt to sign Ghana midfielder Sulley Munatri, who had a superb stint with Portsmouth. After agreeing a deal with Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth, Munatri moved to the San Siro for £11m in 2008.

Sulley Muntari (£7.1m) - Udinese to Portsmouth

Muntari bacame Portsmouth's record signing after signing from Udinese for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £7.1 million. The solid midfielder enjoyed a marvelous spell with the Italian side but made no secret of his desire to play in the Premiership. He also couldn’t turn down a five-year deal worth a weekly salary of £40 000 from the Harry Redknapp side.

Kevin-Prince Boateng (€10m) - AC Milan to Schalke 04

On 30 August 2013, AC Milan announced that Boateng had been transferred to the German Bundesliga club Schalke 04 for €10 million transfer fee, on a four-year contract due to expire in June 2017. Two years later, he was however suspended indefinitely from the club in the aftermath of a defeat against Bundesliga side Cologne in May 2015.

Bernard Mensah (€10m) - Vitoria Guimaraes to Atletico Madrid

Bernard Mensah became Atletico Madrid's second signing in the space of three days after they confirmed the arrival of defender Stefan Savic from Fiorentina in July 2015. The Madrid-based club paid €10m to Vitoria Guimaraes for the services of Mensah in a deal that will keep him at the Vicente Calderon for the next six seasons. He will however spend next season on loan at Getafe.