'Sia banku' – Christian Atsu’s last social media banter with Mubarak Wakaso

Christian Atsu and Mubarak Wakaso were known to share a special relationship as the two football stars most often engaged in social media banter.

The Black Stars players produced hilarious and trolling content that excited their followers and kept them engaged.

It was therefore not surprising that when the whole Atsu situation started unfolding, Mubarak Wakaso was one person most Ghanaians looked forward to providing good news.

Unfortunately for Ghanaians and Wakaso, the player had no good news, on Saturday, February 18, 2023, to share except a tweet that reads “rest well”.

A little over a month before the disaster struck, the two players had what has now turned out to be their final social media banter.

It was Christian Atsu’s birthday on January 10 and Wakaso as usual sent a message, making fun of his good friend.

With a picture of the two players presumably in a Ghana camp, Wakaso tweeted “Happy birthday to you bro. I will continue to feed you love. sia banku.”

The birthday boy, as expected, did not let it slide, he replied “You fool too much” with three emojis of laughter.

After twelve days of search and rescue efforts, Christian Atsu was confirmed dead with his body apparently being retrieved from the rubble of a building in Hatayar, Turkey.

The death of Christian Atsu was confirmed by his agent, Nana Sechere who has been in Turkey for over one week.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce to all well-wishers that sadly Christian Atsu’s body was recovered this morning My deepest condolences go to his family and loved ones. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers and support.

“I ask that whilst we make the necessary arrangements, that everyone would please respect the privacy of the family during this very difficult time,” he tweeted.

Shortly after, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced plans to fly the remains of Christian Atsu to Ghana.

“The Embassy is currently making the necessary arrangements with the assistance of the Government of Türkiye to have the body transported to Ghana for burial. The public will be updated on further developments.”

Christian Atsu made 60 appearances for Ghana, scoring 10 goals. He played for Chelsea, Newcastle, Bournemouth and FC Porto.

KPE/DA