Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has expressed his concern for Christian Atsu, who was caught up in the earthquakes that have devastated parts of Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
Atsu played under Howe on loan at Bournemouth before spending five years with Newcastle.
Atsu now plays for Hatayspor in Turkey and the club’s director, Volkan Demirel, told Reuters on Wednesday the 31-year-old remains missing, despite reports earlier in the week that he had been pulled from rubble and taken to hospital.
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Howe said on Friday: “It’s hugely worrying. I really, really enjoyed working with Christian, a great lad, great player. Our thoughts are with him and his family.
“We hope for some good news, we hope he’s okay, but we’re really concerned for him and his welfare this week.”
Howe added: “It has been difficult because there have been conflicting stories coming out about his whereabouts, so it’s been very tough. I can’t imagine how his family are feeling.
“But from the bottom of our hearts, we wish him well and hope there’s a positive ending.”
More than 21,000 people are thought to have been killed and thousands others injured by a huge earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale, which struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, in the early hours of Monday morning.
The earthquake, which hit near the town of Gaziantep, was then followed by numerous aftershocks.
(Photo: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)