'I was the 8th highest-paid player in world football – people tried to take advantage of me'

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Asamoah Gyan admits many people from his home country of Ghana tried to "take advantage" of him after he received a major financial boost over a decade ago. The former Sunderland forward signed a contract to join Shanghai SIPG in 2015, which led to his net worth increasing almost overnight.

Gyan burst onto the scene at Liberty Professionals in 2003 before moving to Udinese in the same year. He spent five years in Italy - including a loan spell at Modena - before heading to France to sign with Rennes.

Sunderland broke their club-record transfer fee at the time in 2010 to sign Gyan for £10million. However, his time in England was short-lived, as he went out on loan to Al Ain a year later before agreeing a permanent deal.

The striker was reportedly earning £160,000 per week in the United Arab Emirates, but this pales in comparison to the finances of his next club. Gyan moved to the Chinese Super League to play for Shanghai SIPG, where his weekly earnings jumped to a whopping £227,000.

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His staggering earnings saw him breathing down the necks of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who were earning between £350,000 and £400,000 at the same time as Gyan.

Gyan was widely reported to be the eighth highest-paid player in the sport at that time. He had also been shining for his nation, scoring 51 goals in 109 caps between 2003 and 2019.

Things weren't all rosy for the striker, however, as he told former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand that wealth cost him emotionally in his own country.

Gyan told Rio Ferdinand Presents: "It was crazy. Like everybody will be expecting something from you. Family, friends, wherever you go, even people, when they don't even know you. As soon as you pop up, everybody wants you to give [them] money.

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"We give, we give. I give most of the time, but sometimes people try to take advantage of it, and then I say, 'You're trying to... you're trying to take advantage of it.' Maybe the person takes it and then he goes to the next line and comes back again. So when I see that, I get to be upset."

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