Chelsea FC Loan Christian Atsu To AFC Bournemouth
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Chelsea FC announced this week that they have sent young Ghana international Christian Atsu on loan to Premier League promotion winners AFC Bournemouth for the 2014/15 season. Atsu joined Chelsea nearly two years ago in September 2013 for a fee believed to be £3.5 million from FC Porto. He was sent on loan almost immediately to Vitesse Arnhem for the 2013/14 season where he excelled.
With Vitesse, Atsu scored five goals in 30 appearances while playing on the wing for the Dutch club. He also notched six assists which is an equally important statistic for a player in his position. After his excellent season at Vitesse, Atsu was called up to the Ghana squad for the 2014 World Cup.
Although Ghana crashed out in the group stages amid controversy over bonuses that were reportedly delivered in cash via armored vehicles, Atsu was one of the stand out players for the Black Stars. His play in the summer earned him a loan move to a Premier League club in Everton.
A mixture of injuries and the interruption of the African Cup of Nations made getting comfortable at Everton difficult for the youngster as he only made 13 appearances for the Toffees. However the 2015 African Cup of Nations proved once again how talented of a player Christian Atsu is. He helped lead Ghana to the final, which they lost on penalties to Ivory Coast, and was named the Player of the Tournament.
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AFC Bournemouth earned automatic promotion to the Premier League by winning the Sky Bet Championship last season. This will be their first ever season in the Premier League and they need to make some key signings to try and stay there and Atsu is an exccellent start.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe told Sky Sports, “We had to fight off several other Premier League clubs to get him, so we are very, very pleased. Christian is a player with outstanding experience when you look at the career he has had. We are loaning a player of huge potential so we are very, very pleased. I think he will bring pace and ability to beat a man one-v-one which is very important in the Premier League, so for all those reasons I think he is a great signing for us.”
Christian Atsu’s talent is not in question as he has proven time and again that he is a very gifted player. Since leaving Vitesse he has not been given a full chance to prove himself but the loan to Bournemouth should be an excellent opportunity for the youngster. He is also joining the club early in the offseason so he will have plenty of time to get acclimated to his new club and his new teammates.
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