I will never play Asante Kotoko for free – Asamoah Gyan

Ghana’s all-time top scorer, Asamoah Gyan has stated categorically that he will not play for boyhood club Asante Kotoko for free amid huge interest from the camp of the Porcupine Warriors.

The former Sunderland forward has made several public pronouncements about his desire to play for the Ghanaian giants before he brings his career to a close.

Report were that the record Ghana Premier League champions have and approached Gyan and that he made an initial demand of 500 Hundred Thousand US dollars from Asante Kotoko to join them.

But in an interview with Adom TV, he has rubbished such claims and has asked the club to do the needful thing if they want his services.

Gyan stated emphatically that he will not play for the two-time Africa Champions for free despite the love he has for the club.

“I have said on countless occasion that I have Kotoko at heart, I have also said I will play for them before I retire from the game. As I’m without a club there were speculations that the deal has been finalised but as a professional football player we don’t deal like that” he said.

“Though I have made it known that I will play for them but at least we have to go through processes because I’m still a professional footballer. Sometimes I don’t want people to downgrade the Ghanaian league, at times people even get it wrong that if a player travels abroad then he is a professional footballer, but they don’t know that the Ghana league is professional”

“Kotoko should do everything professional although I have said I will play for them. I can just stand up and say I’m going to play for the club. I’m available so when they are ready we have to sit down and go through whatever is involved in terms of signing a contract”

“The new Chief Executive, Nana Yaw Amponsah is my friend and a partner, he is a good guy and knows everything about the game, we talk behind the scene but it’s not even about football because of our relationship. Kotoko should just do things right, they need to do things that will suit the player and the club before the deal can go through, we don’t do a deal just like that”

“If everything goes the way I expect; I will join Kotoko. Football is my job and everything will depend on me and the club but it’s all about negotiations. People will say I have money, so I should play for free, but we don’t do that. If it happens that way, it means you are trying take advantage on me, people have the impression I love the club, so I will play for free, no, I won’t do that” he concluded.