Christian Atsu must leave Newcastle if he wants to enjoy game-time – Steve Bruce

Newcastle winger Christian Atsu has been asked to leave the club if he does not want to spend the entire season warming the bench.

Steve Bruce, the head coach of Newcastle has revealed that Atsu does not feature in his plans for the season and a departure is what he considers to be a perfect deal for him and the club.

In a pre-EFL Cup match interview with the BBC, Steve Bruce named Atsu and four other players as people who need to seek game time elsewhere.

Bruce admitted to admiring the work rate and commitment of Atsu but clarified that he does not see a future for him at Newcastle.

“I like Christian [Atsu] – the same goes for [Yoshinori] Muto – trains every day, works tirelessly, a good professional – but in a situation where are they going to play enough? There has to come a time when they go and play football”.

“The same goes for Saivet. Henri has been around the place since I’ve been here. We try to treat him with respect and he trains every day and is a good pro. Henri Saivet, Atsu, Muto, Lazaar [Achraf], Aarons [Rolando]– they need to find a home and try to progress their careers again.”

The clearest sign of Bruce’s opinion of Atsu is when he left him out of the squad for the game against West Ham over the weekend.

Atsu was not in the 18-man team as Newcastle bagged their first three points of the season with an away win at West Ham.

Should Atsu leave this season, it will be the end of his four-year stint at the club with his highest point coming under Rafa Benitez in the 2018/2019 season.

Atsu’s four years at the St James’ Park has seen him feature in over seventy-five matches.

Atsu has been linked with clubs in Turkey and Scotland with Besiktas and Celtic believed to be strongly interested.