Asamoah Gyan becomes highest ever paid Ghanaian footballer

• Posted on July 26, 2014July 26, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Asamoah Gyan has become the highest ever paid Ghanaian footballer following his latest bumper deal with his UAE-side Al Ain that will earn him at least $13m per year.

Other bonuses depending on the team’s results will rocket his annual earnings to about $15m which makes him by far the highest earning player from Ghana.

The charismatic striker stands well above Sulley Muntari, Michael Essien, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Andre Ayew who are the other top earning footballers from the country.

Following the new deal he signed on Thursday, Gyan will earn $250,000 weekly before winning bonuses as well as appearance fee in various competitions which will further boost his earnings.

He could earn up to about $60m by the time his contract comes to an end with the UAE side before the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Muntari, Essien and Boateng earn around $10m annually while Ayew, who is Marseille’s highest paid player, earns about $8m but the huge taxes (about 40%) the quartet pay in Europe dwarfs their wages.

Ghana’s other top players in the past like Abedi Pele, Sammy Kuffuor and Anthony Yeboah did not earn what the current generation are raking in.

Gyan enjoys tax-free earnings in the UAE which means he will keep all the money he earns without paying anything in taxes.

He extended his contract with Al Ain until 2018 and the deal suggests he is not interested in moving to Europe

The Ghanaian striker, the UAE top flight’s leading goalscorer for the past three years, has committed his future to the Garden City club following a relatively successful Brazil World Cup.

Since joining in 2011, originally on loan, Gyan has scored 82 goals in 66 league matches.

Gyan, who led Ghana at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, previously played for Sunderland in the English Premier League.

-ghanaweb