Newcastle United takeover talks won't affect players - Christian Atsu

Ghana midfielder Christian Atsu argues that an eventual takeover of Newcastle United by new investors will not affect the playing body of the team, who are 'focused' on avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

According to reports in the British media, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is willing to put the club up for sale in order to concentrate on other ventures.

Atsu, 26, was handed his second successive start of the season when the Magpies suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.

He was substituted for Kenedy by the 89th minute while the game was still at 1-1 before Matt Doherty snatched the winner deep in additional time.

"The takeover is not our problem. Our focus is ourselves. We are here to play every game no matter what else is going on" Atsu said as quoted by Chroniclelive. "That is our focus. We showed that at Everton. We showed that matters outside the game don’t affect us. We are mentally strong and we are focused on wining games.

"We know this ourselves, we don’t need anyone telling us, we know we have to play football and let our feet do the talking to get results,” he added.

Newcastle have dropped to 16th with 13 points, three above the relegation zone.