The Black Stars skipper has much regret for leaving the ‘Black Cats’ to Al Ain in 2011
Gyan completed a sensational move to Sunderland after a successful FIFA World Cup tournament in 2010 and hit the ground running by scoring 10 goals in 31 appearances.
However, he made a shocking loan move to Al Ain in the UAE against the wish of his manager at the time Steve Bruce.
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Despite, hitting top form at Al Ain and emerging the top scorer in the UAE topflight league for three consecutive seasons, Gyan has admitted that he has much regrets for leaving Sunderland.
"When people ask me “how long did you play for Sunderland?” I feel so bad I can only say one year. I feel like I could have achieved things in other top leagues too.
''Sunderland fans are fantastic. It isn’t a huge city but the stadium was always packed and they backed us with their heart - it was only a year but I really enjoyed it.''
He got a lot of flak for his move to the Gulf as many felt he had a lot of qualities to switch to an obscure league.
But the 31-year-old believes he did enough to justify his move.
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He added: ''I am very proud of what I did in the UAE for Al Ain, because I created a new legacy for me.
''I created something for myself, I was the top scorer of all time in that league, the top foreign player of all time. I know it isn’t the Premier League, but I felt like I helped raise the standard there and others joined afterwards.
''I went to Al Ain and I fell in love with the place, created a new legacy and they paid me good money and if we are honest with ourselves that is a big reason why we work.
''Sometimes I do regret it, but it goes both ways. I regret not playing longer in the biggest league in the world, but then sometimes I don’t regret because I have to do what I have to do.''
