Manager Garry Monk has rubbished reports that his superstar Andre Ayew chased the money when he signed for the Swansea City insisting the Ghanaian midfielder turned down bigger offers to join the English Premier League club revealing that his only ambitions are football ones.
Ayew has made a dream start to life in the Premier League with two goals in his first two appearances after joining the club from French giants Marseille on a free transfer.
The performances of the deputy Ghana captain after just two matches has underlined the size of the coup landed by Swansea in seeing off a string of European giants to capture the Ghana World Cup star.
Ayew’s father, the African and Maseille great Abedi Pele, who doubles as one of his son’s representatives, has recently claimed he turned down interest from Roma and Atletico Madrid to head to South Wales to join Monk’s ranks.
His quickfire start to British football has led to criticism of clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle who were beaten to the punch by Swansea.
Jack Sullivan – son of West Ham owner David Sullivan – used Twitter to claim the Hammers’ offer of £90,0000-a-week wages were trumped by a supposed £120,000 on offer at the Liberty.
And the Swans boss says the unlikely link-up works because the high-profile signing was NOT lured to the Liberty Stadium by money.
“It was refreshing because there were a lot of big teams around Europe who were offering him a lot more than we were – but it was never about money for him,†said Monk of the 25-year-old.
“He liked our approach – how we were doing things and moving forward. He felt this was the right club at this stage of his career.â€
“It was refreshing when I spoke to him to hear his views on the game because he was very much football-orientated – he’s not into the glitz and the glamour and the money side of it.
“You don’t get a lot of that now when you pick up a paper. It’s normally all about the money.
“The Premier League was obviously a big attraction and, when I spoke to him, he liked the way I was approaching things and he wanted to be part of things.
“It was refreshing because there were a lot of big teams around Europe who were offering him a lot more than we were – but it was never about money for him.
“He liked our approach – how we were doing things and moving forward. He felt this was the right club at this stage of his career.â€
While Swansea are thought to have made Ayew one of their highest earners, paying a substantial signing-on fee across the life of the four-year deal he signed in July, it is nowhere near those kind of figures which fly in the face of the way the Swans board operate.