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Asamoah Gyan

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan will not play for Reading FC in the English Championship after he failed a medical yesterday.

English media report that the 30-year old was set for a loan spell from Chinese side Shanghai SIPG, but due to the fact that he needed eight weeks to reach full fitness, Reading would not take the gamble on him.

Gyan, who has been in the south-east of England for the past two days, has been looking for a club before the transfer window ends at midnight today.

A source at the club told supersport.com: “Gyan is able to move, pass, and his weight and everything is fine. But he is not match sharp and we suspect it is from his lack of playing time in China. He’s a good, good player but we are in need of a good-to-go striker now. We can’t afford the luxury of eight weeks.”

There was talk that he would make a return to Sunderland, where he scored 10 Premier League goals during a two-year spell from 2010, but it cooled off quickly. Chances of going to Newcastle, like the Black Cats, could not work also because of wage considerations, supersport.com understands.

The striker joined Shanghai in 2015 in a deal that made him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world at the time, with a weekly wage of £227,000.

Gyan has been beset by injury worries in the past few years, which have been the main cause of his relegation to the background at his Chinese Super League club. A succession of thigh and knee problems meant the club were unable to rely on his services, although his goal return had been decent when fit. — supersport.com