Asamoah Gyan is hoping a reunion with his Ghana teammate Sulley Muntari will help increase his strike rate. Muntari has signed for Sunderland on loan from Inter for the remainder of the season, with a view to a \u00a36m permanent move in the summer.
\nThe 26-year-old \u2013 who won back-to-back Serie A titles and last season\u2019s Champions League with Inter under Jose Mourinho \u2013 is set to make his Black Cats debut against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium tomorrow.
\nGyan spent four years playing alongside Muntari in Italy with Udinese and the pair have also been regulars for Ghana for almost a decade, notably helping the Black Stars reach the World Cup quarter-finals last summer.
\nGyan credits Muntari as an important supply line who helped him notch 22 goals for his country. Now Sunderland\u2019s \u00a316m record buy hopes the link-up will prove just as effective for the Black Cats. Gyan, who has already scored seven times in 21 Premier League outings since joining Sunderland, said: \u201cI am very happy Sulley is here.
\n\u201cI have played with him for Ghana and at Udinese, so I have known him for a long time. He is a good friend of mine. \u201cWhen I look back at the goals I have scored for the national team, Sulley has had a big influence on most of them, providing assists.
\n\u201cHopefully, he will help me score more goals here at Sunderland now. \u201cHe is an intelligent player, which is why Jose Mourinho took him to Inter and why I am sure he will be a success here at Sunderland.\u201d
\nWhile fellow new signing Stephane Sessegnon made his debut against Chelsea on Tuesday at the Stadium of Light, Muntari had to watch from the stands as his visa was not issued in time for him to play.
\nHowever, he is available tomorrow and an added bonus for Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is the fact Muntari already knows all about the demands of the Premier League.
\nHe spent 12 months at Portsmouth before Inter paid \u00a315m to take him to Italy two and a half years ago. Gyan added:: \u201cI know the kind of player Sulley is he has great quality and a great left foot.
\n\u201cHe contributes a lot to the team and he wins a lot of tackles in the middle of the pitch. \u201cHe is similar to Lee Cattermole in that respect, and he is just what we need at the moment while Lee is out injured.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Asamoah Gyan is hoping a reunion with his Ghana teammate Sulley Muntari will help increase his strike rate. Muntari has signed for Sunderland on loan from Inter for the remainder of the season, with a view to a \u00a36m permanent move in the summer. The 26-year-old \u2013 who won back-to-back Serie A titles and last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n