Christian Atsu

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Christian Atsu
File:20150331 Mali vs Ghana 039.jpg
Atsu playing for Ghana in March 2015
Personal information
Full name Christian Atsu Twasam[1]
Date of birth (1992-01-10) 10 January 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Ada Foah, Ghana
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Youth career
0000–2009 Feyenoord Fetteh
2009–2011 Porto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Porto 17 (1)
2011–2012 → Rio Ave (loan) 27 (6)
2013– Chelsea 0 (0)
2013–2014 → Vitesse (loan) 28 (5)
2014–2015 → Everton (loan) 5 (0)
2015–2016 → Bournemouth (loan) 2 (0)
2016 → Málaga (loan) 12 (2)
International career‡
2012– Ghana 42 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 May 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:57, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Christian Atsu Twasam (born 10 January 1992) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea, and the Ghanaian national team. He primarily plays as a winger, although he has also been deployed as an attacking midfielder.

He began his career with Porto, also spending a season on loan at Rio Ave. In 2013 he was signed by Chelsea for £3.5 million, who have loaned him to Vitesse Arnhem, Everton, Bournemouth and Málaga.

A full international with over 30 caps since his debut in 2012, Atsu has represented Ghana at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He helped the team finish as runners-up at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, in which he also won Player of the Tournament and Goal of the Tournament.

Club career

Atsu was born in Ada Foah, Greater Accra Region.[3]

Porto

Atsu arrived at Porto at the age of 17, finishing his football formation with the club. On 14 May 2011, he was called by first-team manager André Villas-Boas for a top division match against Marítimo, but eventually did not leave the bench in a 2–0 away win.

As with teammate Kelvin, Atsu was sent on loan to fellow league side Rio Ave for the 2011–12 season. He made his debut in the competition on 28 August 2011, in a 0–1 home loss against Olhanense. On 16 December 2011, Atsu opened the score at Estádio da Luz against Benfica in the 24th minute, but the hosts eventually won it 5–1.[4]

He returned to Porto for the 2012–13 campaign, starting in nine of his league appearances as the northerners won the national championship for the third consecutive time.

Chelsea

On 1 September 2013 Atsu agreed to join Chelsea on a five-year contract, for a reported £3.5 million, being immediately loaned to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, for the rest of the 2013–14 season.[5]

Loan to Vitesse

On 6 October 2013, Atsu made his debut against Feyenoord as a substitute, replacing Kazaishvili in the 77th minute. He went on to providing an assist to Mike Havenaar, but it was not enough to prevent a 2–1 loss for Vitesse.[6] On 19 October, Atsu made his first start against SC Heerenveen, which ended in a 3–2 win for Vitesse.[7] On 9 November, he converted a penalty for his first goal with Vitesse, against FC Utrecht; the match ended in a 3-1 win for Vitesse.[8]

In total, Atsu played 30 games and scored 5 goals for the Dutch side as they finished 6th in the league and qualified to the play offs.

Loan to Everton

File:Александар Драгович - Aleksandar Dragovic (16684466389).jpg
Atsu (left) playing for Everton in the Europa League match against Dynamo Kyiv on 19 March 2015

On 13 August 2014, Atsu joined fellow Premier League club Everton on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season.[9] He made his first appearance for the club 10 days later, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Kevin Mirallas in a 2–2 draw with Arsenal at Goodison Park.[10]

On 21 September 2014, Atsu made his first start in the league against Crystal Palace, which ended in a 2–3 home loss.[11] After his absence due to the Africa Cup of Nations, Atsu returned to Everton's lineup on 19 February 2015 in a Europa League match against BSC Young Boys, playing out the last five minutes after replacing hat-trick scorer Romelu Lukaku.[12] and came off the bench three days later to set up a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw at home to Leicester City.[13] On 15 March 2015, in the match against Newcastle United, he came off the bench with 5 minutes remaining, and provided another an assist to fellow substitute Ross Barkley for Everton's third goal of a 3–0 home victory.[14] Following Atsu's impact as a substitute in the above games, he was picked to start the second leg of a Europa League Round of 16 match away to Dynamo Kyiv on 19 March, with Everton leading 2–1 from the first leg. His team were eliminated after losing 5–2 on the night, he was withdrawn in the 65th minute,[15] and that was his final first-team appearance for Everton.[16]

Loan to Bournemouth

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".[17] 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.[18]

Loan to Málaga

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.[19] The next day, it was confirmed that he would be instead moving to Málaga on loan.[20]

International career

File:20150331 Mali vs Ghana 112.jpg
Atsu on the ball in a friendly against Mali in Paris in March 2015

Atsu won his first senior cap for Ghana on 1 June 2012 against Lesotho, scoring in the process.[21] He was described by the BBC as an "excellent prospect",[22] whilst ESPN added he was "quick and technically impressive", and a potential future star for his national team.[23]

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 the DR Congo, and was 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.[24] Atsu featured in the rest of Ghana's matches as they came fourth, scoring in their penalty shootout elimination by Burkina Faso.[25]

Atsu was selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad,[26] starting in all the matches as Ghana were 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.[27] 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 with both the Player of the Tournament award, as well as the Goal of the Tournament award for his strike against Guinea.[28]

Honours

Club

Porto

Individual

Statistics

Club

As of match played 2 May 2016.[29]

Club Season League Cup[nb 1] League Cup Europe[nb 2] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rio Ave 2011–12 27 6 1 0 2 0 – – 30 6
Total 27 6 2 0 2 0 – – 30 6
Porto 2012–13 17 1 3 0 1 0 8 0 29 1
Total 17 1 2 0 1 0 8 0 29 1
Vitesse (loan) 2013–14 28 5 2 0 – – – – 30 5
Everton (loan) 2014–15 5 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 13 0
Bournemouth (loan) 2015–16 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0
Málaga (loan) 2015–16 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 1
Career total 87 13 6 0 5 0 15 0 113 13

Notes

  1. ↑ Includes Taça de Portugal with Rio Ave; Taça de Portugal and Super Cup with Porto; KNVB Beker with Vitesse
  2. ↑ Includes UEFA Champions League with Porto; UEFA Europa League with Everton

References

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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31475995
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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