"Atsu's lifeless body was found under the rubble. His belongings are still being removed. His phone was also found," said Murat Uzunmehmet, his agent in Turkey, quoted by the Turkish private agency DHA.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must announce to everyone (...) that the body of Christian Atsu was found this morning," said Nana Sechere, his Ghanaian agent, on his Twitter account.

According to Turkish media, the body of the 31-year-old former Chelsea and Newcastle player was discovered under the rubble of the Rönesans residence, a collapsed twelve-storey tower.

"The Ghanaian Embassy in Turkey, which transmitted the sad news, indicates that the body was found early this morning," the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Tributes from Porto, Chelsea, Newcastle

Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu, found dead after the earthquake in Turkey, with Ghana against Benin at CAN on June 26, 2019 in Ismailia, Egypt © OZAN KOSE / AFP/Archives

"The older brother and twin sister of Christian Atsu, as well as an embassy attaché, were present at the site when the body was recovered", specifies the text.

The Ghanaian Embassy in Turkey and the Ghana Football Association initially claimed that the striker was found alive 24 hours after the earthquake, but this information was later proven to be false.

The developer of the luxury residence turned into a ruin, where 800 people are believed to be buried, was arrested last week as he tried to leave Turkey.

The earthquake, followed by powerful aftershocks, killed more than 40,000 people in Turkey and Syria, according to the latest official reports released on Friday, also leaving thousands injured and homeless in the freezing cold.

Atsu was recruited last September by the Hatay club (south), near the epicenter of the violent earthquake which struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, far from Ghana, where he had grown up in a family of ten. children.

Trained in his native country in an academy created by the Dutch club Feyenoord, the small 1.65m winger, who arrived at the age of 17 in Europe in 2011 at FC Porto, had quickly won over some of the biggest teams in the continent, arousing by his liveliness ball at the foot of the comparisons with Lionel Messi.

It was Chelsea who finally attracted him in 2013 but the London club immediately sent him on loan to Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands.

AFCON Best Player

Then tossed from club to club, Atsu, passed without convincing by Everton, Bournemouth and Malaga, did not play any official match under the colors of the Blues.

Christian Atsu in the jersey of English club Newcastle during the Premier League match against Everton at Goodison Park on December 5, 2018 in Liverpool © Paul ELLIS / AFP

Loaned in 2016 to Newcastle, he was transferred there the following year for nearly eight million euros.

He scored only three goals in four seasons with the Magpies, before going into exile in Saudi Arabia by joining the team of Al-Raed, then Hatayaspor.

Several of his former clubs, including Porto, Chelsea and Newcastle, paid tribute to him in a statement on Saturday morning.

On its Twitter account, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said it was "saddened by the tragic death of the Ghanaian international".

"Ghanaian football has lost one of its finest elements and ambassadors, who will be difficult to replace. He will be sorely missed," Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Facebook.

In the Ghana national team for which he played 65 times, Atsu, involved in several charitable actions in his country and in Africa, had a much more accomplished career than in club.

The player has thus been selected for four editions of the African Cup of Nations.

He was named best player of CAN-2015 where Ghana lost in the final on penalties against Côte d'Ivoire and was also in the standard team in 2017.

He is also on the trip to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where the Black Stars are eliminated in the first round.

Atsu leaves a widow and three children.

© 2023 AFP