Christian Atsu Twasam was a Ghanaian professional footballer. He plays for the Ghana national team as well as Premier League club Newcastle United. He plays the position of a winger although he is an attacking midfielder.

He started playing with Porto and was later loaned to Rio Ave. He was signed by Chelsea for £3.5 million in 2013 who subsequently loaned him to Vitesse Arnhem, Everton, AFC Bournemouth, and Málaga.

Christian Atsu completed a permanent transfer to the club in May 2017 after spending the 2016–17 season on loan at Newcastle United.

He has represented Ghana in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and has. At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, he helped the team finish runners-up. He Player of the Tournament and Goal of the Tournament.

Early life

Chriatian Atsu was born in Ada Foah in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. He attended the Feyenoord Football Academy in Gomoah Fetteh, now the West African Football Academy in Sogakope in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Club career

Patrick Greveraars, a manager scouted him after he arrived at Porto at the age of 17. He was called by first-team manager André Villas-Boas for a Primeira Liga match against Marítimo on May 14, 2011, but he did not leave the bench.

Chriatian Atsu was sent on loan to fellow league side Rio Ave for the 2011–12 season. On August 28, 2011. he made his debut against Olhanense in a 0–1 home loss. He opened a score at Estádio da Luz against Benfica in the 24th minute, but the hosts eventually won it 5–1 on 16 December 2011.

Christian Atsu, starting at nine of his league appearances returned to Porto and for the third consecutive time, they won the national championship.

He joined Chelsea on a five-year contract on 1 September 2013, for a reported £3.5 million and was loaned to Vitesse Arnhem, a Dutch club for the 2013–14 season.

He made his debut against Feyenoord as a substitute on 6 October 2013, replacing Kazaishvili in the 77th minute. They suffered a 2–1 loss for Vitesse although he was to assist Mike Havenaar. Atsu also made his first start against SC Heerenveen on 19 October in a 3–2 win for Vitesse.

Christian Atsu played 30 games in total and scored five goals for the Dutch side. They finished 6th and qualified for the playoffs.

He joined the Premier League club, Everton, on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season on 13 August 2014. Ten days later, he made his first appearance for the club as a substitute for Kevin Kevin Mirallas in the 85th minute of a 2–2 draw with Arsenal at Goodison Park.

He also made his first appearance in a league against Crystal Palace, which ended in a 2–3 home loss on 21 September 2014.

On 19 February 2015, Christian Atsu returned to Everton's lineup in a Europa League match against BSC Young Boys. He replaced Romelu Lukaku after the first five minutes and came off the bench three days later to set up a late equalizer in a 2–2 draw at home to Leicester City.

On 15 March 2015, in the match against Newcastle United, he came off the bench with five minutes remaining and assisted fellow substitute Ross Barkley for Everton's third goal of a 3–0 home victory.

Following Atsu's impact as a substitute in the above games, he was picked to start the second leg of an Eropa assistedtches away to Dynamo Kyiv on 19 March with regular right-winger Aaron Lennon cup-tied, with Everton leading 2–1 from the first leg.

His team waseliminated after losing 5–2 on the night, he was withdrawn in the 65th minute, which was his final first-team appearance for Everton.

On 29 May 2015, Atsu was loaned to newly-promoted Premier League team Bournemouth for the upcoming season, with club Chief Executive Neill Blake calling the deal "a huge coup". He made his debut on 25 August in the second round of the League Cup, starting in a 4–0 win at Hartlepool United.

Atsu's only other appearance was in the next round's victory at Preston North End; he did not feature in any Bournemouth matchday squad in the league and he was recalled from his loan by Chelsea on 1 January 2016.

On 24 January 2016, Atsu gave an interview with the BBC World Service in which he spoke about leaving Chelsea and his imminent transfer to Levante.

The next day, it was confirmed that he would be instead moving to Málaga on loan. On 5 February 2016, Atsu made his debut in the starting eleven and scored in a 3–0 victory over Getafe CF.

International career

Atsu won his first senior cap for Ghana on 1 June 2012 against Lesotho, scoring in the process. He was described by the BBC as an "excellent prospect", whilst ESPN added he was "quick and technically impressive", and a potential future star for his national team.

The following year, he was in the Ghanaian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. He started the first match, a 2–2 draw against DR Congo, and as a substitute in the following 1–0 win over Mali.

He returned to the starting line-up in the last group match against Niger in Port Elizabeth, scoring the second goal of a 3–0 win which put his country into the quarter-finals as group winners.

Atsu featured in the rest of Ghana's matches as they came forth, scoring in their penalty shootout elimination by Burkina Faso.

Atsu was selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad, starting in all the matches as Ghana was eliminated in the group stage.

At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Atsu scored twice in a 3–0 win over Guinea in the quarter-finals. He helped the team to the final, where they lost in a penalty shootout against the Ivory Coast.

At the end of the tournament, he was awarded both the Player of the Tournament and the Goal of the Tournament for his strike against Guinea.

Atsu is a devout Christian who shares Bible verses on social media. He was married to a German, Marie-Claire Rupio with two sons and a daughter.

Honours

Primeira Liga: 2012–13

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2012

EFL Championship: 2016–17

Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:2015

Vitesse Player of the Year: 2013–14

Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament: 2015

Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2015, 2017

Africa Cup of Nations Goal of the Tournament: 2015

www.ghanaweb.com