Ghana winger Christian Atsu says his dream as a young boy was to become a medical doctor.

Atsu who is currently with Newcastle United on loan insists football came in after his father passed away at age 12.

'I was not paid at the academy and because of that, my father died. We did not have the money for the treatment,' says Atsu, the youngest of 11 siblings and now a father of two,” he told UK-based Dailymail.

'I did not ask anything about the sickness, but I know he was drinking a lot of alcohol. He was a farmer. Now there was no-one to help the family.

'That inspired me. I was either going to be a doctor, to help the sick, or make it as a footballer, to provide for my family.'