Impossible To Get Someone New Like Asamoah Gyan For The Black Stars - Atsu

The attacker who was recently signed by Saudi Arabian side Al Raed has also explained his absence from the national team.

Ghana winger Christian Atsu believes it is impossible to get someone new like Asamoah Gyan in the team.

The 35-year-old Black Stars legend, Gyan scored 51 goals for the West African nation in the 109 matches played. He made his debut for Ghana at just 17 and went on to have a successful campaign which saw him play in the World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, among other competitions.

He won the 2010 BBC African Player of the Year and has also managed to appear three times in the Caf Team of the Year, among other individual honours.

"You may talk about goalscoring, you know, it is very important but you will not have someone like Asamoah Gyan, impossible," Atsu told 3Sports as quoted by GhanaSoccernet.

"So we should just focus on what we have; the strikers we have now. We should focus on them and try to encourage them because they are young players.

"But no one should compare the strikers we have now to Asamoah Gyan because this is wrong."

The 29-year-old has further shed light on why he took a break from the national team.

"Coach came to my place at Newcastle United, I spoke with him, we made a decision and this is it," Atsu continued.

"So it is not like I told the national team I was not going to play again, there is nothing like that. It's the journalists who are trying to bring up stories for Ghanaians to maybe be mad about someone or be crazy, but it doesn't matter, what's most important is family.

"Now, listen, we the footballers, right, it is a great honour for us to play for the national team. The way the journalist portrays the image of the Black Stars in the media is very bad and this is not good for the players and also the country.

"So for me, I will be honoured. When I'm fit and I am playing and I deserve to be called into the Black Stars, I will be honoured to come and play."

Source: Goal