late Christian Atsu poses with his wife and kid after winning a trophy for Newcastle
In the early days of his career, Christian Atsu was billed as a huge prospect who was going to develop into a world-class player and one of Ghana's best-ever footballing products but he could not have an illustrious career as many anticipated.
He played for ten different clubs across Europe in his 12-year professional career and won only three trophies.
He had a superb left foot that left most Ghanaians in awe after his Black Stars debut at age 20 in June 2012.
Atsu entertained the fans at the Baba Yara Stadium with some swift dribbles and capped the night off with a debut goal in a 7-0 win. He earned the nickname 'Ghana Messi' right after his debut.
He had a high ceiling but never reached his full potential, which could have seen him play for top clubs and win more titles.
Atsu only played for notable teams but not many potential trophy-winning teams.
Christian Atsu joined FC Porto youth side in 2011 from Ghanaian side Cheetah Academy. He later got promoted and lasted for two seasons before landing his breakthrough move to Chelsea in 2013.
He signed a five-year contract with Chelsea but unfortunately spent almost all five years on loan at other clubs. He was loaned to Vitesse, Malaga, Bournemouth, Everton, and Newcastle United.
Newcastle secured the Ghanaian on a permanent deal in 2017 for £6.2 million from Chelsea. He spent four years at the club before joining Al-Raed as a free agent in 2021 and then to Hatayspor in 2022.
He only won laurels at Porto and Newcastle United throughout his club football journey.
In his international career, he scored 10 goals in 60 appearances. He came close to ending Ghana's long trophy drought in 2015. Atsu was the star of the Black Stars team during the 2015 AFCON when Ghana finished second-runner up.
Atsu won the best player of the tournament and won the best goal of the tournament.
Here are Christian Atsu's hounours
Primeira Liga: 2012–13
Supertaca Candido de Oliveira: 2012
EFL Championship: 2016–17
Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:2015
Individual
Vitesse Player of the Year: 2013–14
Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament: 2015
Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2015, 2017
Africa Cup of Nations Goal of the Tournament: 2015
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EE/KPE
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