Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan has tipped his former teammate at Al Ain Omar Abdulrahman for a transfer to Europe after the playmaker was named the 2016 AFC Player of the Year.
Abdulrahman, 25, beat another teammate of Gyan's at Shanghai SIPG China winger Wu Lei and Iraq striker Hammadi Ahmed to the honour at the glamorous 2016 AFC Annual Awards on Thursday in Abu Dhabi.
This topped off an incredible campaign, which contained eight man of the matches in 14 games during Al Ain’s path to defeat in the AFC Champions League final to South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
The perennial question about becoming the first UAE international to transfer permanently to the old continent in the post-ceremony press conference received a non-committal reply from ‘Amoory’.
For Gyan, who scored 128 goals in 123 matches alongside him in the Garden City from 2011-15, this honour might act as the spark which would force through a seismic switch.
“I think he deserves it,” said the Ghana striker, who is on loan at Al Ahli from China’s Shanghai SIPG. “He has every right to win the award. I think he deserves it. He is a great player, with great vision. He has incredible quality.
“From my memories, he made me score a lot of goals. Most of my success here come from him. He has been able to lead a team to the (AFC Champions League) final. I think he deserves it.
“I have had a couple of talks with him. He wished to play in Europe two years ago, but I don’t know what he has decided now.
“I think he has that quality to play in Europe. But he needs to dedicate himself more, for the training. He is not somebody who likes to work in the gym. But he is great, as far as he does his work on the field – I think he can play.”