Ghana coach CK Akonnor denies Atsu retirement reports

Black Stars head coach Charles Kwablan Akonnor has refuted claims of Christian Atsu retiring from international football prematurely.

Last week, reports emerged that the Newcastle United winger has communicated to the 46-year-old trainer that he is no more interested in playing for Ghana.

According to the reports, Atsu was not impressed with the support of the country offered to him when he got injured during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

"It’s not true that Atsu has retired from the Black Stars. We spoke at length but we did not have a discussion on him retiring from the national team," CK Akonnor said, as reported by Ghana Web.

"We agreed to give him some time to recover because he is struggling with that knee injury and I cannot ask him to come to Ghana to play again when he even travels across Europe to seek treatment.

"I have also been a player before and I know what he is going through; it’s something very serious.

"He [Atsu] is a good player and once he recovers, he will be invited."

The 28-year-old has made 62 appearances for the Black Stars and scored 10 goals.