Newcastle United hesitant in releasing Christian Atsu for Ghana's AFCON qualifiers

Newcastle United remains undecided on releasing Black Stars winger Christian Atsu for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers later this month.

The 29-year-old is expected to be named in Ghana coach Charles Akonnor's final squad for the games against South Africa and Sao Tome.

The Black Stars need their key players at the crucial stages of the qualifiers, but several European clubs including the Magpies remain reluctant in releasing the players due to COVID-19.

Newcastle United has been given the power to prevent any player from joining their national team for international assignments due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In the UK, players returning from the red zone, which is areas highly affected by the virus will quarantine for 10 days.

Atsu is yet to return to the first team of Newcastle after he was dropped to the U-23 side.

However, after his outstanding performance in the U-23's game against Leeds United last week, fans are calling on Steve Bruce to reinstate the winger into the first team.

Atsu has not played for the Black Stars since picking an injury at the Nations Cup in Egypt 2019.