Football player, Christian Atsu has been declared dead eleven days after the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria.
After his body was discovered in the earthquake’s debris, footballer Christian Atsu, previously of Chelsea, Málaga, and Newcastle United, was one of the tens of thousands of casualties.
Murat Uzunmehmet, his agent in Turkey, corroborated this distressing information.
“Christian Atsu was found and had unfortunately passed away,” he tweeted in a statement.
Atsu, a player for the Turkish team Hatayspor, vanished, shocking the sports community.
After a lengthy career that saw him play in many of the top leagues in the globe, the 31-year-old Ghanaian was currently playing in Turkey.
After making a name for himself with Porto, he was signed by Chelsea and played for them for four seasons, during which he spent time on loan at several clubs, including Málaga, where he eventually made it to the Spanish First Division.
He took part in 12 games, scoring 2 goals.
He eventually arrived in Turkey to join the ranks of Hatayspor, with whom he had scored one goal in three games after passing through Newcastle and Saudi football.
Atsu was well-known for his work with the Ghana national team in addition to clubs.
He scored 9 goals in 65 games played. He competed in the 2014 World Cup and the African Cups in 2013 and 2015 with the national squad.
The news of Atsu’s disappearance put Turkey on high alert.
A few days ago, rumors circulated that his body had been discovered alive, however the club he belonged to later disputed these claims.
The player’s agent’s admission is another setback for a nation that has already experienced one of the worst disasters in its history with an earthquake that has now claimed more than 40,000 lives between Turkey and Syria.
