Christian Atsu Height, Age, Death, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Christian Atsu

• Christian Atsu (1992-2023) was a Ghanaian footballer who played for many clubs across professional leagues and also represented Ghana in various tournaments. He played for FC Porto, Chelsea, Newcastle United, and Hataspyor. He played in the 2014 World Cup.

• He liked playing football during his childhood, idolized the Ghanaian legendary footballer Abedi Pele, and played many local and interzonal tournaments for his school Madina Nakwantang BA 2 Primary School.

• He then joined Peace F.C.  and later, he started training at Feyenoord Football Academy in Gomoa Fetteh, Central Ghana. He then moved to the West African Football Academy at Sogakope, Volta Region of Ghana for training.

• In late 2009, he joined Cheetah F.C. to play club football.

• He participated in a 3-day trial for Portuguese club FC Porto and later joined them in January 2010. He played for their youth team, and they won the 2011 FIFA Youth Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland.
  

  Christian Atsu celebrating with FC Porto’s teammates after winning the 2011 FIFA Youth Championship

• He was loaned out by FC Porto to Rio Ave FC for the 2011-12 season and played his debut match in Liga Portugal on 28 August 2011.

• He again played for FC Porto in the 2012-13 season and played nine matches.

• On 1 September 2013, he was signed by Chelsea for five years for £3.5 million; however, he never played any match for them.

• He joined the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2013-14 season and played his debut in the Eredivisie on 6 October 2013. He helped them to qualify for the playoffs and finish sixth in the league.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem

• On 13 August 2014, he joined the English club Everton on loan for the 2014-15 season. He was regarded as an impactful player during his stint.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for the English club Everton

• On 29 May 2015, he joined the English club AFC Bournemouth on loan for the 2015-16 season.
  

  Christian Atsu (right) playing in a match for the English club AFC Bournemouth

• On 25 January 2016, he joined the Spanish club Malaga CF on loan for the 2016-17 season.
  

  Christian Atsu playing a match for Spanish club Malaga CF

• On 31 August 2016, he joined the English club Newcastle United for one year. His contract also had a buy-in clause, which Newcastle used and purchased him for four years for £6.2 million in May 2017. Newcastle’s then-manager Rafael Benitez called him one of the most talented African players of his era.
  

  Christian Atsu and his family with the Trophy after Newcastle United qualified for English Premier League (EPL)

• He represented Ghana in several matches over the course of his career. He played in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournament held in South Africa, the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations held in Equatorial Guinea, the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon, and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt. He also represented Ghana in the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for Ghana

• On 17 July 2021, he joined the Saudi club Al-Raed for one year and played eight matches in the Saudi Professional League.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for Saudi club Al-Raed

• On 6 September 2022, he joined the Turkish club Hataspyor for one year. His contract with them had an option of purchase for one more year.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in his last match for Turkish club Hataspyor

• He suffered regular injuries throughout his career. He suffered a hamstring injury in December 2014 which sidelined him for 3 weeks and forced him to miss 6 matches. He suffered a bone stress injury in September 2015 which sidelined him for 10 weeks and forced him to miss 9 matches. He tore a muscle fibre in February 2016 which sidelined him for 2 weeks and forced him to miss 2 matches. He strained his thigh muscle in November 2017 which sidelined him for 4 weeks and forced him to miss 4 matches. He suffered a knee injury in April 2018 which sidelined him for 12 weeks and forced him to miss 6 matches. He injured his hamstring which took 2 weeks to recover and forced him to miss 1 match. He suffered a bout of fever which sidelined him for 2 weeks and forced him to miss 2 matches.

• He worked for many charities and did philanthropic work for children and the underprivileged. He became the global ambassador of the Arms Around The Child charity group in 2017 and raised funds to construct a school in Ghana. He donated 80 pairs of football shoes to Cheetah F.C. for the young boys. He donated many things to Becky’s Foundation, an orphanage in Senya Berekum in Ghana. He worked in tandem with the CrimeCheck Foundation of Ghana to help secure the release of many prisoners who were imprisoned for petty crimes. He helped to get the pardon for the release of 40 prisoners and paid for the release of a few of them. He helped secure the release of an old lady and her granddaughter, imprisoned for stealing food. ^[5]The Independent ^[6]Ghanaweb
  

  Christian Atsu meeting children during a charity event

  

  Christian Atsu meeting the children as the ambassador of the Arms Around The Child

• Tributes poured in from several footballers and clubs after the news of his death spread. Former Ghana captain Mohammed Kudus revealed a t-shirt after scoring a free kick goal with the message RIP Atsu written on it. Newcastle United paid their tribute by observing one-minute silence before their match. Ghana’s vice president Mahamudu Bawmia said that Atsu’s death was tragic and a heavy loss to Ghana. ^[7]The Thaiger

Ajax star Mohammed Kudus dedicated his goal to Christian Atsu.

The Ghanaian International scored an incredible freekick in Ajax 4-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam.

IP Holder: @marcgeschwind/Twitter#TheUltimateExperience pic.twitter.com/GbRedvqhlo

— Joy Prime (@JoyPrimeTV) February 19, 2023