Atsu joined Chelsea in 2013 before switching to Newcastle United in 2017, he later signed for a club in Saudi Arabia from where he moved to Turkey
By Kehinde Okeowo
Ex-Newcastle winger and Ghana international, Christian Atsu is reportedly trapped under the rubble of a destroyed building’ following an earthquake in Turkey.
A search and rescue operation is underway after Atsu, who joined Super Lig club Hataysport last summer and some of his teammates were caught up in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
More than 1,600 people have been killed and thousands more injured after the catastrophic earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria overnight, flattening neighborhoods while families were asleep.
Two of Atsu’s team-mates as well as members of the technical staff were said to have been eventually pulled out of the rubble, though the 65-cap Ghana international – is still missing.
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Atsu joined Chelsea as a youngster in 2013 from Porto before being sent on a number of loan spells. He spent time at Everton and Bournemouth before making a permanent switch to Newcastle United in 2017 having never played a Premier League game for Chelsea.
In total he made 107 appearances for the Maggies, scoring eight goals, before joining Saudi side Al-Raed in 2021.
He left Newcastle in 2021 to join Saudi side Al-Raed but departed the Middle East for Turkey in the summer. He scored his first goal for the club this weekend, just hours before the earthquake struck.
In a message after the game, he wrote: ‘Important win for the team. Happy to be on the scoresheet.’
Newcastle have posted on social media, with a photo of Atsu when he was at the club, saying they were ‘praying for some good news.’
The earthquake hit hard in Kahramanmaras, where Hatayspor are based.