Quinn dismisses Gyan speculation

Gyan joined Sunderland from Stade Rennes for £13m in August 2010 and scored 11 goals in his debut season on Wearside Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has described reports that Asamoah Gyan's availability has been circulated to other clubs as 'embarrassing'.

The 25-year old striker's name was reportedly on a list of players sent out by a north east agency.

"The suggestion is embarrassing," Quinn told the club website.

"I hope our fans would be smart enough to realise that this is probably some way of attempting to destabilise our relationship with one of our players."

Quinn added: I'm sorry that our fans have to read the endless speculation that appears in the press at this time of year.

"Normally we don't comment on any of it as there's so much. For instance, we've been linked to over 40 players in the last month or so alone."

Continue reading the main story Gyan has played top flight football in Italy with Udinese, France with Rennes and England with SunderlandGyan scored on his Black Cats debut against Wigan, and his Ghana debut against SomaliaThree is Gyan's lucky number; he wears that shirt for Ghana, but has 33 at Sunderland as three was already taken by Kieran Richardson

Gyan, who joined Sunderland in August 2010 at a fee in excess of £13m from French side Rennes, scored 11 goals in his debut season on Wearside.

The Black Cats have already sold England international midfielder Jordan Henderson to Liverpool for £20m earlier this month.

Meanwhile boss Steve Bruce is looking to strengthen the squad, notably in striking areas following the £24m departure of Darren Bent to Aston Villa in January, and the return of loan striker Danny Welbeck to parent club Manchester United.

Among the names linked with Sunderland are South Korea striker Ji Dong-Won and Liverpool forward David Ngog.

"What I can say is that we are in a number of meaningful negotiations to bring players in and when there's anything definitive to report it will be on our club website for our fans to read," Quinn added.

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Quinn dismisses 'embarassing' Gyan talk

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn on Wednesday moved to dismiss speculation that striker Asamoah Gyan has been offered for sale.

The Black Cats reacted swiftly to claims that the 25-year-old Ghana international's name has been circulated to prospective purchasers.

In a statement, Quinn said: "The suggestion that we have spoken to an agent to sell this player on our behalf is embarrassing to all concerned.

"I hope our fans would be smart enough to realise that this is probably some other club or outside agent's way of attempting to destabilise our relationship with one of our players."

A report suggested Gyan was being put up for sale to help fund a summer spending spree.

His situation has been in the spotlight for several weeks amid reports that Tottenham could be ready to test Sunderland's resolve to hang on to him this summer.

The former Rennes striker headed for the Stadium of Light in a £13million-plus move from Rennes last summer and scored 11 goals in his first campaign on Wearside.

Manager Steve Bruce bought him to partner Darren Bent in attack, although his plans had to be ripped up when the England international left for Aston Villa in January.

Bruce's focus since has been the search for a player to complement the African and he has been linked with a long list of names, with Spurs pair Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko prominent among them.

The noises about Gyan's future have refused to go away, but with loan signing Danny Welbeck having returned to Manchester United and Fraizer Campbell facing most of next season on the sidelines with another serious knee injury, the club's striking resources are all but exhausted.

If they did decide to cash in on a man on whom they could expect to make a profit, it would leave the manager with an entire attacking unit to rebuild and another major gap to plug following midfielder Jordan Henderson's departure for Liverpool.

Bruce is already heavily engaged in his search for reinforcements, with deals for Liverpool's David Ngog and South Korea international Ji Dong-won close to being finalised.

Elsewhere, he has been given permission to talk to Manchester United trio Darron Gibson, Wes Brown and John O'Shea after lodging a joint bid totalling more than £12million.

The Black Cats have been encouraged by the reaction from the Gibson camp, but Brown is understood to be considering his options while O'Shea will perhaps take the most persuading to leave Old Trafford.

Sunderland have also registered an interest in Birmingham midfielder Craig Gardner, who is certain to attract interest from other Barclays Premier League clubs, although derby rivals Newcastle insist they will not be among them.

Asked about his future, Gardner said: "I don't know. It's a difficult one.

"I'm unsure exactly what is happening behind the scenes and what the board are thinking.

"Where are we going, what are we planning to do? I don't know.

"At the end of the day, like every player, you have to think of your career. Everything is up in the air at the moment."

Bruce also hopes to push through Bosman free transfer deals for Coventry keeper Keiren Westwood and Birmingham midfielder Sebastian Larsson after wasting no time in making his interest known.

Quinn said: "What I can say is that we are in a number of meaningful negotiations to bring players in and when there's anything definitive to report, it will be on our club website for our fans to read."

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