David Atanga recalls ‘difficult’ debut season in Austria

Ghanaian winger David Atanga has recounted the difficulties he faced when he first arrived in Austria in 2014.

The 22 year old joined Red Bull Salzburg from Ghana’s West African Football Academy but was not allowed to feature for the first team until after a year later when he turned 18 years old.

”At the beginning I started really really well but I was not allowed to play until my 18th birthday so it was a bit difficult. I was there for over a year without playing competitively. When I finally started playing, I started scoring immediately. I scored on my debut and gave a lot of assists that campaign” he said in an exclusive interview with FootballMadeInGhana.com

In June 2015, Atanga signed new five-year deal with the club. On 25 July, he made his first-team debut for Red Bull Salzburg.

However, because of lack of playing time, he was consistently sent out on loan to teams including Mattersburg, St Polten and recently Greuther Fürth where he established himself as key member of the squad.

Atanga joined German second division side Holstein Kiel on permanent basis ahead of the 2018/2019 season. He signed a three-year deal in the ongoing transfer window.