PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Christian Atsu – Ghanaian reflects on early career with Porto

Newcastle United's Christian Atsu (left) speaks with Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez

Monday Apr 16, 2018. 13:00

Ghana star Christian Atsu has reflected on his time with Portuguese giants Porto early in his professional career.

The Newcastle United winger joined the Dragons as a teenager in 2011, but it was only in the 2012/13 season that he really got a tasted for first-team football at the club, making 17 appearances in their Primeira Liga-winning campaign. He them moved to Chelsea ahead of the 2013/14 season.

"I had a trial with FC Porto [as a teenager], did a trial for three days and then they said they wanted me to stay for six months,” Atsu Newcastle’s official website.

“After, by God's grace, I impressed them and then I signed a one-year contract with them. After the one year, I signed a professional contract with them.

"That was my first time in Europe and I had a great time. We won the Portuguese under-19 league and after that, we won the Fifa Blue Stars [in 2011], which is now the FIFA Youth Cup - the Champions League for youth teams.

"Their academy team is always very good. Porto have very good scouts all over the world and they try to scout those players, and they have good coaches.

“They love to play football and they have a lot of academy players who are also playing in the first team, so you can see that development is very good in Porto.”