Christian Atsu (1992–2023)

[Mole_Toonfan]

Only reason i didn't mention him was because i don't trust his injury record tbh, i hope he somehow gets healthy and stays healthy though.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I like this player. He's a threat. Great free-kick as well. I hope we sign him up.

[Pixelphish]

I like this player. He's a threat. Great free-kick as well. I hope we sign him up.

 

Thought this was a Gallows post.

[MW]

Same he's definitely got something about him. Scored some nice goals recently and is a threat. Worth a punt at that price.

[Figures 1-0 Football]

Always liked him and had no idea all season how or why Gouffran started ahead of him.

 

I'd buy him, at worst he'd be a good squad player.

[Heron]

6million isn't much in this day in age and I reckon you'd struggle to get better for the same or less.  I'd probably go for him or look to loan someone of similar ilk

[mrmojorisin75]

6million isn't much in this day in age and I reckon you'd struggle to get better for the same or less.  I'd probably go for him or look to loan someone of similar ilk

 

yeah, some people are living in the transfer market of 10 years ago tbh

[Tooj]

Are people wanting to sign him because of the free-kick like?

 

I got the impression most people thought he wasn't good enough for the Premier League. I mean I'd be happy to take him on loan again but if it's 6m I'm not too sure, I'm not sure he's done enough.

 

I have personally thought we should sign him all season so no, 6m gets you f*** all in this day and age as evidenced by the fact Mitrovic cost double that.

 

If you think we can do a lot better for that amount of money for someone who could likely contribute quite a lot to the squad then fair enough but I doubt it.

 

I think some of you are quick to forget how much trash we have had at this club, we can and probably will do a lot worse.

 

Also people who say we can do better are not really giving it enough thought. Wide players are notoriously difficult to buy because not only do they need a combination of pace ideally, but also end product and a work ethic. Think back to how many we have managed to sign successfully in the last few years.

 

Atsu isn't the finished product but he's got at least two of those attributes in finishing and pace. If we can get a better player I'm all for it, but we haven't got one at the moment.

 

I personally want to see two wingers come in, him and someone else. Get rid of Gouffran and assuming that mystery Winger is actually good it wouldn't be a bad 3 to choose from along with Ritchie.

 

 

and aarons of course, who will be looking to prove himself now, i still have hope for him

Aarons has a lot to prove as even before his cruciate injury he looked way off where he should be.

[SEMTEX]

Aye I think at this point you can't rely upon Aarons at all. He's a complete unknown with injury problems.

 

I'm game to sign Atsu. I don't have much hope for him becoming great, but he's still our 2nd best winger and he's dirt cheap. Gouffran has seen significant time, Ameobi has played, and Perez was played there out of position. This is a simple cheap option with relatively little downside.

 

We still need another winger. And another one of everything else.

[loki679]

Aye, it's another fairly useful body for very little money and no risk.  Him plus one more good winger in and we can focus on other more important positions.

[STM]

Until the last few games, I wouldn't have bothered with Atsu but hes been brilliant in his last two games.

 

If possible, I'd ask Chelsea to loan him to us again.

[Ikon]

Atsu has never really had any continuity during his career for various reasons, so maybe he could be a late bloomer the more he gets settled down and the more time he spends in a permanent place? Under Rafa he'll learn a lot of stuff that he might not be good at at the moment, but at least you can learn these things, it's not something you have to be born with is what I'm trying to say. However he does have some qualities which aren't quite as easy to learn out.  For the price mentioned (6m) I really think it's worth it as we can't spend time chasing hundreds of players, and for that price we won't find much better back up players Imo. My gut feeling is that he has a lot to learn but I also think he's got potential and in a permanent environment under the guidance of Rafa I can only see him improving. What we'll pay for him we can easily get back for him in the future if it doesn't work out. Whatever Rafa decides when it comes to Atsu, I'll be happy with it either way.

[HaydnNUFC]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4478068/Newcastle-star-Atsu-delivering-pitch.html

 

Christian Atsu delivering on and off the pitch as Newcastle star talks Ghana charity work, tough upbringing and 'great man' Rafa Benitez

 

Christian Atsu was 12 years old when his father passed away in his native Ghana

It served as motivation for a boy who could have been lost to Ada Foah's streets

He was scouted by Feyenoord's west African academy as a youngster

Atsu, 25, is an ambassador of Arms Around the Child, a British charity

His fifth goal of the season set Newcastle on their way to victory last Friday

Atsu: 'My second boy was born at the start of this season. I named him Godwin'

 

Christian Atsu was 12 years old when, following the sudden death of his father, he declared: 'I'm either going to be a doctor or a footballer'.

Even today, 13 years on and sitting inside Newcastle United's training ground in the wake of promotion to the Premier League, you can sense Atsu's regret at his father's passing in poverty-stricken Ghana.

What it did do is serve as motivation for a boy who could have been lost to the streets of Ada Foah, the hometown where he played football in his bare feet until being spotted by scouts from Feyenoord's west African academy.

 

Atsu was in the first term of a six-month training camp some three hours from home when news came through that his father, Immanuel, was sick. He never saw him again.

'I was not paid at the academy and because of that, my father died. We did not have the money for the treatment,' says Atsu, the youngest of 11 siblings and now a father of two.

'I did not ask anything about the sickness, but I know he was drinking a lot of alcohol. He was a farmer. Now there was no-one to help the family.

'That inspired me. I was either going to be a doctor, to help the sick, or make it as a footballer, to provide for my family.'

 

That, he has done. His mother, Afiko, has moved out of the two-bedroom dwelling where she raised the family. Atsu's twin sister, Christiana, is studying nursing at university and hopes to join her brother in Newcastle for a masters degree.

Atsu, though, has done more than help just his own. The Ghana star is an ambassador of Arms Around the Child, a British charity which supports orphanage sites in his country.

He will return this summer with a bagful of Newcastle kits, boots and balls. 'I will play football with the children and my friends in my bare feet, but please, don't tell the manager,' he smiles.

However, given the experience of his own upbringing, he will offer more than material goods.

'The hard life I passed through, I know how it is. Those children on the streets, they don't have parents, they don't have friends, they have nothing,' he says.

 

'I try to provide food, books and clothes, but most of all I want to give them hope, I want them to have a better future. It is more important for them to feel loved, to know there is someone there to help, someone who cares.

'They have lost parents, like I did. But many, their parents just left them on street because they cannot afford to have them or pay school fees.

'It happened to me, too. It got to the point where my parents could not pay my fees and I had to sacrifice school. I sold rubber bags in the market with my friends. Sometimes I would be away from the house for two weeks without seeing my family, staying with friends, just to forget things.

'I loved playing football but I also had to work hard to feed my family. I could not see them suffering, especially my twin sister and mother.'

For a young man driven by a work ethic and sense of duty off the pitch, on it he was blessed with flair and played with freedom.

 

That much has been evident on Tyneside, where the Chelsea loanee's fifth goal of the season - a delightful free-kick - set Newcastle on their way to victory at Cardiff last Friday. He also scored in the promotion-clinching win against Preston and wants to make it a treble by helping the Magpies to the Championship title this weekend.

Atsu hopes to make permanent a £6.5million move in the coming weeks. For after loan spells at Everton and Bournemouth brought just five top-flight appearances, this finally feels like home.

He is softly spoken. Talk of his childhood perhaps offers reason for that. But, when it is put to him that - at 5ft 8ins - he is perhaps too small to impact in the Premier League, he comes back with anything but a whisper.

'Okay… I know I'm very small, but I also have a very big heart. It does not matter how small you are, I go to win - in football and in life,' says the winger, who arrived at Chelsea from Porto for £3.5m in 2013 but is yet to play for the Blues.

'It just didn't work for me at Everton or Bournemouth. I am more focused in my life now. I have forgotten what happened in the past. You need to be in the moment.

 

'It is my dream to play in the Premier League, that is why I signed for Chelsea. Everyone in Ghana watches our football. Now I have that chance. Rafa Benitez has helped me so much this year, he is not only a great coach, but a great man.'

Benitez's influence apart, the newfound serenity which has allowed Atsu to shine is perhaps best explained by the happiness of life with his young family.

'My second boy was born at the start of this season. I named him Godwin, because my past life was difficult. I said, 'This is me now - God will help us win',' says Atsu, who also has Joshua, three.

'Their childhood will be different to mine, yes, but I want them to have the same values.'

It is those values which have taken Atsu this far. He will need them more than ever if he is finally to make a name for himself in the Premier League.

[Tsunami]

Canny read but 5ft 8inches really is taking the piss. And I still wouldn't buy him (though I'd think about it if he really was 5ft 8 inches).

[Mick]

If it wasn't for Perez Atsu would have been player of the match, he was brilliant today and we really should keep him.

[hakka]

Monster wing play in the first half. Looked like he was single handledly creating things.

[xLiaaamx]

Think he's unlucky to have not seen more game time this season. Been impressed with what I have seen. For 6 Million, I'd want him to stay.

[Mick]

Monster wing play in the first half. Looked like he was single handledly creating things.

 

His link up play with Yedlin was brilliant.

[Tooj]

Think he's unlucky to have not seen more game time this season. Been impressed with what I have seen. For 6 Million, I'd want him to stay.

 

Absolutely.

 

I think Rafa has preferred Gouffran as he believes he's more of a shape player and likely to follow instructions, whereas Atsu is a bit more of a maverick. Just needs a run of games as whenever I've seen him for Ghana with more responsibility he looks to be a player.

[Mick]

 

Absolutely.

 

I think Rafa has preferred Gouffran as he believes he's more of a shape player and likely to follow instructions, whereas Atsu is a bit more of a maverick. Just needs a run of games as whenever I've seen him for Ghana with more responsibility he looks to be a player.

 

He looked like the player I was watching when he was away in Africa.  He had flicks, pace, ball control and directness.  He was really unlucky not to have scored.

[afar]

Personally think it's a no brainer, cheap and capable of doing a job, we need to fill a squad here not just a first 11.

[Hanshithispantz]

I don't think we'll keep him like, unless it's something like another loan in with an option to buy or something.

[Guest neesy111]

I don't think we'll keep him like, unless it's something like another loan in with an option to buy or something.

 

I think it'll depend on what our transfer budget is like.

[Altamullan]

Great performance today. Turned-up and took it to the bridge! (No, not Stamford...).

[Mole_Toonfan]

I don't think we'll keep him like, unless it's something like another loan in with an option to buy or something.

 

To me it's a no brainer tbh, although it depends on what Rafa wants to sign.