Sunderland's two starting forwards are No. 33 "Hat Man" Asamoah Gyan and No. 17 "Belbeck" Danny Welbeck.

The 25-year-old Jian is 185cm tall and weighs 80kg. He is a typical impact center, but he can also play as an attacking midfielder. He has a large range of activities in the frontcourt and his playing style is relatively free and flexible.

Gian has outstanding physical qualities, good speed and explosiveness, which makes him very threatening when he gets behind the defense.

Gyan is the captain of the Ghana national team and the top scorer in Ghana's history. He has participated in three World Cups and scored 6 goals, making him the African player with the most goals in the World Cup finals.

From 2012 to 2014, Gian played 65 games for Al Ain and scored 73 goals. In 2014, he won the AFC Champions League Golden Boot and the AFC Best Foreign Player Award.

In July 2015, the 29-year-old Jian officially transferred to Shanghai SIPG for 12 million euros.

Jian's annual salary at Shanghai SIPG was as high as 11.8 million pounds, which was the highest annual salary in the Asian League at that time and ranked 12th in the world. At that time, the salaries of many world-class stars were far less than Jian's.

When he first arrived in the Chinese Super League, Jian performed well. In the second half of the 2015 season, Jian made 17 appearances and scored 10 goals.

For a quasi-world-class striker, it is indeed a bit unfair that he cannot play at a crushing level in a league like the Chinese Super League where weak teams fight each other, but at least he scored some goals, which is barely acceptable.

But in the 2016 season, Jian's condition declined rapidly. He had the highest salary in the Chinese Super League, but his performance was not even as good as the fake players and he was often injured.

Shanghai SIPG had no choice but to introduce Oscar, and Gian was also loaned back to Dubai Al Ahli in the United Arab Emirates.

As a result, Gian returned to Al-Ahli and helped Al-Ahli win the Super Cup.

But in the end, this once world-class star still failed to find a place in SIPG. He quickly became a trash star and left SIPG as a free agent.

Gian is called Hat Trick not because he can often perform hat tricks in games, but because of his private life.

When Gian retired, his assets exceeded 30 million US dollars, making him one of the richest players in Africa.

After retiring, Ji An began to build his own business empire, investing in real estate, founding an airline, opening a gold mine, and opening a fund company. He had everything from grain and oil to purified water, planning companies, record companies, and so on.

Jian himself owns a mansion, dozens of luxury cars and a private jet.

It can be said that Gian is very famous in Ghana and even in Africa.

However, in 2021, Jian filed for protective bankruptcy and sued his wife in court, claiming that the three children his wife gave birth to were not his own.

Even Ji'an's brother couldn't stand what Ji'an did, so he used his own money to pay for his brother and sister-in-law's plane tickets and the identification fees for their children.

The court ultimately ruled that Jian lost the case and ordered Jian to pay $4,600 in child support every month.

This is just a drop in the bucket for Ji'an, who transferred his property in advance and filed for bankruptcy.

Because he announced to the public that three consecutive children were not his own, Jian was called "Hat Brother" by the outside world.

Jian should have been happy after getting rid of his ex-wife and children, but just two years later, retribution came.

Gyan, who holds the title of Africa's richest footballer, is literally bankrupt.

If you spend money like this, even mountains of gold and silver will not be able to withstand it.

What's more, although Ji'an had a lot of assets, he didn't know how to run them. He didn't have any proper professional managers under him, and he only appointed people based on personal connections. These people who seemed like brothers quickly emptied out his assets and transferred them.

By 2023, Ji'an was already living a miserable life.

However, during his time at Sunderland, Gian was still at the peak of his career.

Sunderland's other striker is No. 17 Danny Welbeck, who is on loan from Manchester United and nicknamed Black Welbeck. He is the only one among Manchester United's four dark kings who can't score.

The current Sunderland is a team affiliated with Manchester United. From the head coach to the loaned players, many of them are from Manchester United.

The 21-year-old Welbeck is 185cm tall and weighs 78kg. He is energetic, has strong confrontational ability, is extremely fast, and is flexible. He is a relatively comprehensive striker.

Welbeck is also a Ghanaian, but he was born in Manchester, so he is considered a British of Ghanaian descent.

Welbeck is a young player trained by the youth system of Manchester United Football Club. Welbeck joined the Manchester United Football School in 2005 and officially signed with the Manchester United youth team on July 1, 2007. Welbeck's outstanding performance was named the club's best young player in the 2007-08 season. Even Ferguson praised Welbeck's speed and said that Welbeck will be an important part of Manchester United's plan.

Then Ferguson loaned Welbeck out.

This is also normal. After all, Manchester United is too big and has too many world-class stars.

At the age of 18 or 19, it is impossible for Welbeck to get a place in the first team of Manchester United right away. He must be loaned out to level up. Only after successful leveling up can he return to Manchester United.

In fact, Welbeck's performance was still very eye-catching while he was loaned to Preston and Sunderland.

So, in August 2011, Welbeck was called back to Manchester United by Ferguson, and made his debut in Manchester United's 8:2 massacre of Arsenal. After scoring one goal, he pulled his thigh because he was too excited.

After that, it was the period of Manchester United's four dark kings.

Manchester United's four dark kings are: Nagle can't pass to Nani, Young can't beat Ashley Young, Bayern can't score, Welbeck can't score, and Valencia can't shoot.

The reason why Welbeck has the nickname "Beibeck" is that although he is very fast and often has one-on-one opportunities, his ability to grasp the points is extremely poor. His shots are basically based on luck, and he usually knocks himself down when he dribbles past opponents.

Then, Welbeck moved from Manchester United's bench to Arsenal's bench.

Welbeck is also one of the few players who Ferguson had high hopes for but failed to become a world-class player.

Another player who Ferguson once had high hopes for but failed to perform well is China's Dong Fangzhuo.

Of course, Dong Fangzhuo delayed the treatment of his knee injury in order to participate in the Olympic Games, so he was ultimately unable to play.

...(End of this chapter)