English Premier League giants Chelsea the club that identified the talent of Christian Atsu and brought him to England paid a touching tribute to him following his demise.

There were similar tributes paid to the former winger at various English Premier League venues following his tragic demise during the Turkey earthquake disaster.

It was not only in England as in Holland supporters of  his former side Vitesse Arnhem also paid tribute to the slain player.

The Hatayspor winger had been missing for 12 days since the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and some parts of Syria on February 6 but was found dead in the early hours of Saturday.

Atsu started his footballing journey at Feyenoord now WAFA in Ghana before joining Cheetah FC in Kasoa before going on to play for the likes of Porto, Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle, and Bournemouth among others.

A minute silence was observed at all various Premier League grounds as all teams put on a black armband.

At the tender age of 17 years, the Ghanaian winger joined Portuguese side FC Porto in 2011 but was sent out on loan at Rio Ave for the 2011/2012 season where he scored six goals in 30 appearances.

He made a return to parent club FC Porto the following season where he scored once in 29 matches for Porto before leaving to join English Premier League against Chelsea in 2013 on a five-year contract.

At Chelsea, he went on several loan spells and never played any competitive game for the club with his first being a very successful spell at Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem where he scored five goals in 30 matches and was named the Player of the season for the Dutch side.

Atsu had loan spells at Everton, Bournemouth, and Newcastle from Chelsea before sealing a permanent move to Newcastle United in the 2016/17 season as he helped the club secure promotion back to the English Premier League.

At the Magpies, he spent four seasons there before leaving as a free agent in the 2020/21 season to join Saudi side Al Raed.

After just eight matches, he left the Saudi side and returned to Hatayspor where he played just four matches and scored his goal on 5th February the Sunday before the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck which claimed the life of Christian Atsu.

He was survived by his wife Marie-Claire Rupio and three children.