10 Sunderland Players Who Really Weren't Worth The Hassle

7. Asamoah Gyan

An important leveller at White Hart Lane, the sumptuous second goal in a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge and a last-minute equaliser in the North-East derby - there were certainly a number of highlights for Asamoah Gyan during his brief stint on Wearside. For a £13 million investment, however, Steve Bruce will have wished that he had hung around for longer than just a season. Having smashed their club transfer record in August 2010 for the Ghanaian World Cup star, Gyan took to the Premier League like a duck to water, scoring ten goals in 31 appearances. What will have irked Sunderland supporters the most, however, was the manner of his exit. Not only did the club make almost a 50% loss on the player, but he exited on an initial loan deal a week after the close of the 2011 summer transfer window, leaving the club with no time to seek a replacement. It's fair to say that Bruce was not best pleased with Gyan's choice of destination either, signing a £5m-a-year deal with UAE club Al Ain.

''I can't understand someone's logic. Africa's player of the year, a hero in his own country, leaving the biggest stage in the world. I will let other people draw their own conclusions. Sometimes football is baffling. The timing is disappointing and the whole thing has left a bad taste. But I won't stand in the way of someone who doesn't want to be at your club.'' - Steve Bruce, September 2011.

With the prolific Ghanaian choosing to bang the goals past keepers of a far inferior level, he left his club in the lurch, with Nicklas Bendtner their only forward. Unsurprisingly, results did not improve and the manager paid the price. We're guessing Gyan wasn't on Bruce's Christmas card list that year.