Mourinho tips Atsu
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is tipping Ghanaian youngster, Christian Atsu, for greatness after handing the midfielder a dream move to the London club from Portuguese side FC Porto.
Advertisement
Mourinho’s move last week for the former FC Porto player came as a surprise as he appeared to be headed to Chelsea’s cross-town rivals, Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool, until he was prised to Stamford Bridge for a five-year deal worth £3.5million.
Immediately after concluding the deal last Friday, Chelsea shipped the Ghanaian to Dutch Eredivisie side, Vitesse Arnhem.
Mourinho, who signed Ghana’s Michael Essien in 2005 and turned him into one of the world’s best midfielders, says 21-year-old Atsu has a great future at Stamford Bridge and believes he needs more playing time to prepare him for the rigours of English Premiership football.
“I’ve followed his performance at FC Porto, my former club, and I believe he has what it takes to become great. He needs more games to toughen up for the Premiership, that’s why we decided to send him on loan to Vitesse where he can fight for more playing time before he returns.
There is a lot of competition for positions here and it only makes sense that we allow him to go to a club where he can get more playing time to continue his development,” said the Portuguese after the youngster penned a five-year contract last Friday.
Until his Chelsea move, Liverpool were in pole position to sign the Ghana international before displaying a reluctance to meet the Portuguese club’s €4 million asking price for a player who has just a year left to run on his current contract.
The attacking midfielder made his first-team breakthrough at Porto last season, clocking up 17 appearances as the club won the Portuguese league.
Atsu made his debut for Ghana in June 2012, scoring against Lesotho in a World Cup qualifier, and has been a regular since. He played and scored in the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of the year.