Sylvain Distin sent Newcastle United attacker Christian Atsu a cheeky message on Instagram after he opted to share a snap from his holiday.
The 27-year-old Magpies winger posted a picture of himself on his Instagram relaxing in a pair of shorts on a sun lounger with the picture’s caption revealing it was the last day of his vacation.
“Last day @teamGodIsTheReason,” wrote Atsu on his Instagram account.
With Atsu’s abs clearly in the shot, Distin, who featured 28 times for the Magpies during his career, joked about the player’s muscles and told him to stop “tensing” and just breathe out.
“Stop tensing those abs and breath out bro,” wrote Distin on his personal Instagram.
OPINION
Distin is clearly pulling Atsu’s leg with his cheeky comment and is trying to point out that the player’s latest post is just him taking the opportunity to show off what great shape he is in. While many people go away on their holidays and let themselves go, it seems Atsu is keeping himself in fine shape ahead of returning to the Magpies for pre-season. Atsu had a hit and miss 2018/19 campaign as sometimes he wowed and proved his worth, while in other outings he surely had Rafa Benitez questioning his ability. The winger featured 32 times across all outings but notably only started 39% of the Magpies league games (Source: Transfermarkt), a reflection of his inconsistent form, and he should be aiming to feature more in the upcoming season. For Atsu to do that, one of the key areas of his game that he still needs to work on is his end product. The winger is able to use his skills and pace to get in good positions but often doesn’t make the most of them. This is shown by the fact only 19% of his 42 crosses found their mark in the league (Source: Premier League) and that only 50% of his 14 shots were on target.
