Christian Atsu has had to wait a long time to find his form but he appears to be improving by the week at St James’ Park.
Christian Atsu has told the Chronicle that he credits his growing impact on loan at Newcastle United to his renewed attitude after enduring torrid spells with Bournemouth and Malaga last season.
Despite a slow start on Tyneside, the Ghanaian international has now featured in five successive Championship fixtures under Rafa Benitez, netting his only goal for the club in a slender away win at Rotherham.
Injuries restricted Atsu’s impact during previous loans at Everton, Bournemouth and Malaga, and the Chelsea-owned winger admits he has changed his approach and attitude in order to finally make his mark after a nomadic couple of years.
“At Bournemouth, I had a lot of injuries that brought me setbacks in my football career,” Atsu told the Chronicle. “I left in January to Malaga, and when I went there I had another injury again. It was so frustrating, but I thought: ‘I need to take good care of myself.
“I saw that I have to be responsible for these kind of things.
“So I tried to change how I eat, my sleep and everything. I think I’m more professional, and more focussed on my body than before.
“Every time, when there is a problem, you try to figure out where it is coming from. I found out that sometimes it’s me, and I need to take good care of myself because it’s my body. My sleep, my diet, everything – I tried to change everything, and I think I’m getting better.”
While the impressive form of Atsu’s former Cherries team-mate Matt Ritche (below) has kept the Ghanaian out of the starting line up on most occasions, his pace and directness means Benitez has often utilised him against tiring defences in the latter stages of games.
After two turbulent seasons, yielding just four league starts, Atsu will be praying his injury problems don’t resurface just as he is starting to find some momentum in his career.
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