Rafa Benitez has paid tribute to 'special person' Christian Atsu after the former Newcastle United player died at the age of 31.
Atsu went missing after the tragic earthquakes on February 6, which hit Turkey and Syria. Sadly his body has since been discovered, with the ex-Newcastle and Chelsea star confirmed dead on Saturday morning.
Benitez, who managed Atsu during his time at St James' Park, has now paid his respects in a touching message ahead of Newcastle's match vs Liverpool in the Premier League.
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"Really sad to hear the news," Benitez told Sky Sports. "I was following the news for a while because they said he was fine and he was in hospital, then that was not true.
"I was in contact with an ex-player, a Turkish player, and he was feeling that it would be bad news, so really, really sad because he was a nice, nice, special person. He was a very good professional, and I won’t talk about if he was a good player or not, he was a nice lad - good player - but especially a really nice person.
"Really sad for him and everybody involved because it is sad news. I tell you that I was in contact with him maybe last month, we had some messages, it is bad for me to express it in English but I was feeling so bad and I was trying to contact an ex-player in Turkey, and he was telling me that he was with a member of the staff and he was feeling that he had bad news.
"Today [Saturday] they confirmed that. Also I don’t want to forget the rest of the people because it has been a really difficult time and I think that we have to help them in any way, and today we have to remember Christian - really sad."
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