Sunderland shells out record fee for Gyan

Soccer Betting Lines

08/31/2010 - Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland signed Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan for a club-record transfer fee of nearly $20 million on Tuesday and gave him a four-year contract.

Sunderland acquired the 24-year-old Gyan from French club Rennes. His signing surpasses the amount Sunderland spent on Darrent Bent last season.

"It's been a long day, but finally I'm happy to be here and my family and friends are also happy for me," Gyan, who finalized his move just before the transfer window closed, said on Sunderland's website. "My family is in England already and I am happy this is the right place for me.

"The Sunderland coach (Steve Bruce) has faith in me because he has been following me for two years now. I am pleased I have the opportunity to come to England."

Gyan scored three goals in the recent FIFA World Cup for Ghana, as the country made the quarterfinals of the tournament before falling to Uruguay in penalty kicks. He has scored 22 goals in 44 matches for Ghana.

Gyan was also a member of Ghana's 2006 World Cup team. He scored the fastest goal of the tournament against the Czech Republic when he scored 68 seconds into the match.

After starting his career in Ghana, Gyan signed with Udinese in Italy and made 39 appearances and had 11 goals, while scoring another 15 on loan at Modena. He joined Rennes in $10 million move in 2008 and scored 14 times in 47 games.

Sunderland also announced midfielder Teemu Tainio has left the club and his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.