Since the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in early February, the fate of Christian Atsu was uncertain. However, this Saturday, February 18, 2023, reality promises to be cruel. The Ghanaian footballer of Turkish club Hatayspor has been found dead under the rubble of his building in Hatay in southern Turkey, as his agent, Murat Uzunmehmet, has just announced via the Turkish private agency DHA : “Atsu’s lifeless body was found under the rubble. We take our stuff out again. His phone was also found.”, thus confirmed his agent. The star player of clubs FC Porto, Chelsea, Everton or Newcastle was only 31 years old.
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Christian Atsu arrived in Turkey in September 2022 to join Hatayspor. He resided at the Renaissance, a luxurious residence which collapsed during the earthquake which affected the south-west of the country and the north-east of Syria. Tragic stroke of fate, the footballer should never have been there at this time. Taner Savut, the sports director of Hatayspor, has indeed made this cruel revelation to the Spanish daily ace : “Christian had spoken to the coach, Volkan Demirel, before the game against Gaziantep FK (February 1, editor’s note) to explain his decision to leave, since he did not have the playing time he wanted (4 games in 2022-2023, editor’s note). He was supposed to go to France to see his family, but in the next match, he played well and scored against Kasimpasa (the 1-0 victory goal on February 5, editor’s note). He was very happy in the locker room, with his teammates, so he decided to cancel his plane ticket. He had a flight scheduled for 11 a.m., but he canceled the ticket. Then, at 4 am, the earthquake happened. It’s a tragedy…”.
VF
– The entire 100% Blues team sends its most sincere condolences to all those around Christian #atsufound dead this morning after the terrible earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. The former Blues player from 2013 to 2017 was playing for #Hatayspor since 2022.#CFCpic.twitter.com/Nl7fEnHHB3
— 100% Blues (@100B_Chelsea) February 18, 2023