Ghana winger Christian Atsu says he did not quit the Black Stars but decided to stay away to concentrate on his club career.

Atsu struggled to break into the Newcastle United first team last season and felt he had to fight for playing time with the English side hence his decision to stay away from the national team.

According to the 29-year-old, he explained his situation to Black Stars coach C.K Akonnor, who agreed with his decision as he fought for playing time with the Magpies.

“Coach came to my place in Newcastle United, I spoke with him, we made a decision and this is it,” he told 3Sports.

“So it’s not like I told the national team I was not going to play again, there is nothing like that.

“It’s the journalist 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”

The winger who recently signed for Saudi Arabia side Al Raed says he will be honored to return to the team when he’s fully fit.

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

“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.”

Christian Atsu has not played for the Black Stars since 2019.