Ghana captain Andre Ayew has officially parted ways with the English Championship side Swansea City after a three-year spell with the club.
It is no surprise that Ayew decided to leave the Welsh club after their unsuccessful quest of qualifying for the Premier League during the 2020/21 season.
The 31-year-old, who was on the books of Swansea in 2015-2016, will soon be a free agent as his contract with the club is set to expire at the end of June 2021.
The Swans released the following statement as they confirmed the list of players, who will be leaving the team:
“Swansea City can confirm its retained list following the end of the 2020-21 season,” a club statement read.
“Andre Ayew, Kieron Freeman, Declan John and Barrie McKay have seen their contracts come to an end and will depart the Liberty Stadium.
“Ayew has been the club’s top scorer for the past two seasons, amassing 35 goals since returning from a loan spell at Fenerbahce.”
Ayew was Swansea’s top scorer in the Championship during the 2020/21 season as he scored 17 goals in the second tier of English football.
The Ghanaian has played for Swansea and West Ham United in the English Premier League and has been a regular international for Ghana since 2008 and has earned over 90 caps for the Black Stars.
He has featured in two FIFA World Cups (2010 and 2014), as well as six Africa Cup of Nations (2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019), helping them finish runner-up in 2010 and 2015, and was top goalscorer at the latter tournament.
Ayew scored his 35 goals in 106 appearances since rejoining Swansea from West Ham for an initial £18m fee in January 2018.
Ayew was the club’s highest earner by a distance so it is no surprise to see him leave given the financial crunch due to Swansea’s failure to achieve Premier League promotion.
The Ghana captain originally joined Swansea on a free transfer from Marseille in 2015 and, after one impressive top-flight season in which he scored 12 goals in 35 appearances, joined West Ham for £20.5m.
He returned 18 months later in what remains a club-record deal but could not save Swansea from Premier League relegation.
His final appearance for the club came in the final defeat by Brentford at Wembley in the Championship playoff final.