The jury is still out on whether Christian Atsu fulfilled his potential, but one thing that is most certain is that in his short spell on earth, he lived and touched lives.

Although the nature of his passing is sorrowful, the life that he lived and his personality have now put him on a pedestal for footballers to emulate.

Christian Atsu was no big name in Ghanaian football, let alone in Africa or the world, but has now become the blueprint for many Ghanaian footballers.

His death has reminded people, especially footballers, of the need to live up to certain virtues and become an example in society.

 Here are five lessons footballers can learn from Christian Atsu's life

 Work on their talents 

Christian Atsu was talented. He was such an exciting prospect that Chelsea couldn't help but sell him for £3.5 million at the age of 21.

Although his career started on the right path from Porto to Chelsea, it was never meant to be.

Atsu struggled after the move and could not break through the Blues' first team, which led to him spending all his years at Chelsea on loan.

He, however, never gave up and kept improving until he finally earned a permanent move to Newcastle and made a name for himself at St. James Park.

Atsu went from being mostly a peripheral player at Everton, Malaga, and Bournemouth to becoming the fans' favorite at the Magpies.

The fans went to the extent of composing a chant for the Ghanaian.

 Humility 

Christian Atsu's humility is mentioned in almost every tribute. At some point in his career at Newcastle, he was out of favor under manager Rafael Benitez.

However, the manager, while paying tribute to Atsu, pointed out the player's humility.

"It’s really sad because he was a nice, nice, special person. He was a good professional. "I don’t talk about if he’s a good player or not, he was a nice lad and a good player, but especially a really nice person. 

"So a special person and everybody always, you can see the pictures, always with a smile playing or not playing." 

 Philanthropic works 

The major talking point after Atsu's passing has been his charity work. He was a philanthropist who cared about the poor and needy and did not hesitate to offer a helping hand.

He paid school fees for many students, supported orphanages, and also settled fines for petty crime prisoners.

 Family oriented  

Christian Atsu was a family-oriented man. He kept both his nuclear and extended families close.

Throughout his career, he never had an off-the-field incident with any of his families, and he had their backing every step of the way.

  Religious  

Christian Atsu was religious and had God at heart. He had a prayer emoji drawn on his left leg. 

In an interview with TV3, he stated that without prayer, there would be no Christian Atsu. 


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