Newcastle United’s Atsu ruled out of the season

Newcastle United Rafa Benitez has confirmed that Christian Atsu will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery.

Atsu went under the knife to treat his knee problem that has kept him out of the Magpies’ last three games.

The 26-year-old last outing was in Newcastle's 2-1 loss to Leicester City on April 7.

Ahead of their visit to Watford on Saturday, Benitez disclosed that the former Chelsea player will not be playing a part in the remaining games for the season.

“Atsu has had an operation on his knee to be sure that he will be fine for the next year,” Benitez was quoted as saying by The Chronicle.

“It wasn’t a big issue but he had some discomfort and we needed to fix the problem now to be sure that next year he is fine.”

Atsu who moved to the St. James' Park from Chelsea last summer, scored two goals in 28 league matches this campaign.

Newcastle are placed 10th in the Premier League table with 41 points from 35 games.