Atsu: Ghana star believes he will leave Europe after Newcastle United exit

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The 29-year-old will be a free agent after his contract with the English side expired on July 1

Ghana attacker Christian Atsu has stated he will not be playing in Europe after exiting Premier League outfit Newcastle United.

The Black Star announced his departure from the Magpies after five years at the club.

The winger left the Magpies after seeing out his contract. It marked an end to a frustrating last 12 months, where he was frozen out of the first team and had to take a place with the second team. Consequently, he played no part of the club's Premier League campaign in the just-ended season.

The West African, who has two weeks remaining on his contract with the English side, concedes he will be out of Europe despite interest from other teams.

"I have a lot of offers but I think I will leave Europe, but I cannot say anything for now," Atsu said as quoted by Ghanaweb.

The 29-year-old is rumoured to be on his way to Saudi Arabian Pro League side Al Raed FC who are keen on making their squad better.

Atsu joined Newcastle from Chelsea in 2016, initially on loan during the former's time in the English second-tier.

With 32 Championship appearances and five goals to help the club qualify for the Premier League, the attacker did enough to impress the Magpies, who moved to make his stay at St James Park permanent, signing him on a four-year contract.

He appeared 28 times in each of the club's first two seasons on their return to the elite division before seeing his numbers drop to 19 in the 2019-20 term.

Last season, things changed for the 29-year-old when he was left out of the registered squad at the start of the Premier League season.

In January, he was lucky to be reinstated to the squad but still found himself on the sidelines as he failed to make the matchday squad for any of the games.

Away from the first team, the former Everton and Bournemouth man played six times for the second team and scored once.

He has also played for Portuguese heavyweights Porto where he made 17 appearances, scoring one goal in the process.

2021-06-19 10:00:03

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