Kelechi Nwakali

Kelechi Nwakali (born 5 June 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Spanish club SD Huesca.

Kelechi Nwakali
Personal information
Full name Kelechi Nwakali
Date of birth (1998-06-05) 5 June 1998
Place of birth Owerri, Nigeria
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Huesca
Number 28
Youth career
Diamond Football Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Arsenal 0 (0)
2016–2017 → MVV Maastricht (loan) 29 (2)
2017 → VVV-Venlo (loan) 9 (1)
2018 → MVV Maastricht (loan) 16 (4)
2018–2019 → Porto B (loan) 16 (0)
2019– Huesca 5 (0)
National team‡
2015 Nigeria U17 7 (3)
2016– Nigeria U20 4 (0)
2018– Nigeria 1 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:50, 15 August 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 July 2018

Club career

Arsenal

Nwakali started his career at the Diamond Football Academy and after his performances at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, in which he won the Golden Ball Award,[1] he signed with English Premier League side Arsenal.[2]

MVV Maastricht (loan)

On 16 September 2016 it was announced that Nwakali had signed for Eerste Divisie side MVV Maastricht on loan for the season.[3] He then made his professional debut for the side the same day against Jong Ajax. He came on as a 92nd-minute substitute for Thomas Verheijdt as MVV won 1–0.[4]

VVV-Venlo (loan)

On 29 August 2017, Nwakali joined Dutch side VVV-Venlo on loan for the first 6 months of the 2017–18 Eredivisie season.[5] On 10 September 2017 Nwakali scored on his Eredivisie debut against FC Groningen, scoring a stoppage time equaliser in a 1-1 draw. After the initial 6-month loan deal expired, Nwakali elected to leave Venlo and return to MVV Maastricht for the second half of the season.[5]

Return to MVV Maastricht (loan)

On 24 January 2018, Nwakali returned to Maastricht on loan for the second half of the 2017-2018 Eerste Divisie season, having played just 380 minutes of Eredivisie football with Venlo.[6]

Porto B (loan)

Nwakali signed on loan for FC Porto on 18 July 2018, and was assigned to Porto B ahead of the 2018-19 LigaPro season.

In March 2019 he was stuck in Nigeria due to issues with his visa.[7]

Huesca

On 2 September 2019, Nwakali joined Spanish Segunda División side SD Huesca on a three-year deal.[8] After leaving the club he thanked Arsenal for his time with them, despite not making a first-team appearance.[9]

International career

Nwakali was named to the provisional squad for the Nigeria U17 side before the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup but did not make the final squad.[1] However, coming into the 2015 U-17 World Cup he was named captain as he led his country to the title, winning the Golden Ball Award along the way.[1]

Career statistics
As of match played 20 July 2020 [10]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Arsenal 2016–17 Premier League 0000000000
2017–18 Premier League 0000000000
2018–19 Premier League 0000000000
MVV Maastricht (loan) 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 29210004[lower-alpha 1]1343
VVV Venlo (loan) 2017–18 Eredivisie 912000——111
MVV Maastricht (loan) 2017–18 Eerste Divisie 16400002[lower-alpha 1]0184
Porto B (loan) 2018–19 LigaPro 1600000——160
Huesca 2019–20 Segunda División 500000——50
Career total 757300061848
  1. Appearances in the Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs
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References
  1. "Osimhen and Nigeria the big winners". FIFA. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. "Kelechi Nwakali completes Arsenal move with five-year deal". ESPN FC. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  3. "Arsenal's Kelechi Nwakali joins MVV Maastricht on loan for season". ESPN FC. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. "MVV 1-0 Jong Ajax". Soccerway.
  5. Einchcomb, Jamie (27 January 2018). "Nwakali not recalled but rejected VVV Venlo loan extension".
  6. editor (9 August 2019). "Taiwo Awoniyi: Future at Anfield in Doubt?". THISDAYLIVE. Retrieved 24 May 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. Okeleji, Oluwashina (22 April 2019). "Nigeria Football Federation helping Kelechi Nwakali sort visa issue". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  8. "Kelechi Nwakali, talento joven y versatilidad" [Kelechi Nwakali, young talent and versatility] (in Spanish). SD Huesca. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  9. "Kelechi Nwakali: Nigerian thanks Arsenal despite no appearances". 3 September 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. Kelechi Nwakali at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
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