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Kelechi Nwakali

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Kelechi Nwakali
Nwakali in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-06-05) 5 June 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Owerri, Nigeria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Barnsley
Number 50
Youth career
Diamond Football Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Arsenal 0 (0)
2016–2017 → MVV (loan) 29 (2)
2017 → VVV-Venlo (loan) 9 (1)
2018 → MVV (loan) 16 (4)
2018–2019 → Porto B (loan) 16 (0)
2019–2022 Huesca 29 (0)
2021 → Alcorcón (loan) 18 (4)
2022–2023 Ponferradina 33 (1)
2023–2024 Chaves 32 (1)
2024– Barnsley 1 (0)
International career‡
2015 Nigeria U17 10 (4)
2019 Nigeria U23 3 (1)
2018– Nigeria 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 August 2023

Kelechi Nwakali (listenⓘ; born 5 June 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Barnsley.

Club career

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Arsenal

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Nwakali started his career at the Diamond Football Academy, Nigeria.[1] After his fine performances at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in which he won the Golden Ball Award,[2] he signed with English Premier League side Arsenal.[3]

MVV Maastricht (loan)

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On 16 September 2016, it was announced that Nwakali had signed for Eerste Divisie side MVV Maastricht on loan for the season.[4] 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.[5]

VVV-Venlo (loan)

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On 29 August 2017, Nwakali joined Dutch side VVV-Venlo on loan for the first 6 months of the 2017–18 Eredivisie season.[6] 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 six-month loan deal expired, Nwakali elected to leave Venlo and return to MVV Maastricht for the second half of the season.[6]

Return to MVV Maastricht (loan)

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On 24 January 2018, Nwakali returned to Maastricht on loan for the second half of the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie season, having played just 380 minutes of Eredivisie football with Venlo.[7]

Porto B (loan)

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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.[8]

Huesca

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On 2 September 2019, Nwakali joined Spanish Segunda División side SD Huesca on a three-year deal.[9] After leaving the club he thanked Arsenal for his time with them, despite not making a first-team appearance.[10]

Nwakali made his La Liga debut on 13 September 2020, in a 1–1 away draw against Villarreal CF. On 31 January of the following year, he was loaned to AD Alcorcón in the second division, for the remainder of the season.[11]

On 5 April 2022, Nwakali's contract was terminated early.[12] The following day Nwakali released an official statement through his official Twitter account denouncing his treatment by SD Huesca and the club's Sporting Director, Rubén García, starting in December 2021, by pressuring him not to attend the Africa Cup of Nations, for which he had been called up, paying his wages late, pressuring him to sign a new contract in order to get paid the wages he was owed, trying to force his transfer out of the club and, finally, suspending him and banning him from club trainings.[13]

Ponferradina

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On 21 July 2022, Nwakali signed for fellow Spanish second division side SD Ponferradina.[14]

Chaves

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On 20 July 2023, Nwakali signed for Primeira Liga side Chaves.[15]

Barnsley

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On 12 August 2024, Nwakali joined League One club Barnsley for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.[16]

International career

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Nwakali was named in the provisional squad for the Nigeria U17 side before the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup but did not make the final squad.[2] 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.[2] On Christmas Day 2021 he was called up to Senior team that will participate in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon which was postponed to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Career statistics

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As of match played 22 July 2023[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arsenal 2016–17 Premier League 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
MVV (loan) 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 29 2 1 0 — 4[a] 1 34 3
VVV-Venlo (loan) 2017–18 Eredivisie 9 1 3 0 — — 12 1
MVV (loan) 2017–18 Eerste Divisie 16 4 0 0 — 2[a] 0 18 4
Porto B (loan) 2018–19 LigaPro 16 0 — — — 16 0
Huesca 2019–20 Segunda División 5 0 0 0 — — 5 0
2020–21 La Liga 5 0 2 0 — — 7 0
2021–22 Segunda División 19 0 2 0 — — 21 0
Total 29 0 4 0 — 0 0 33 0
Alcorcón (loan) 2020–21 Segunda División 18 4 0 0 — — 18 4
Ponferradina 2022–23 Segunda División 36 1 1 0 — — 37 1
Chaves 2023–24 Primeira Liga 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Career total 153 12 9 0 1 0 6 1 169 13
  1. ^ a b Appearances in the Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs

Honours

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Nwakali (right) with Victor Apugo (center) and Samuel Chukwueze (left) in 2015

Nigeria U17

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Diamond Academy President Confirms Nwakali Will Complete Arsenal Move In June | All Nigeria Soccer". www.allnigeriasoccer.com. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Osimhen and Nigeria the big winners". FIFA. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Kelechi Nwakali completes Arsenal move with five-year deal". ESPN FC. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Arsenal's Kelechi Nwakali joins MVV Maastricht on loan for season". ESPN FC. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  5. ^ "MVV 1-0 Jong Ajax". Soccerway.
  6. ^ a b Einchcomb, Jamie (27 January 2018). "Nwakali not recalled but rejected VVV Venlo loan extension".
  7. ^ editor (9 August 2019). "Taiwo Awoniyi: Future at Anfield in Doubt?". THISDAYLIVE. Retrieved 24 May 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (22 April 2019). "Nigeria Football Federation helping Kelechi Nwakali sort visa issue". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Kelechi Nwakali, talento joven y versatilidad" [Kelechi Nwakali, young talent and versatility] (in Spanish). SD Huesca. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Kelechi Nwakali: Nigerian thanks Arsenal despite no appearances". BBC Sport. 3 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Kelechi Nwakali, cedido a la AD Alcorcón" [Kelechi Nwakali, loaned to AD Alcorcón] (in Spanish). SD Huesca. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  12. ^ "LA SD HUESCA RESUELVE EL CONTRATO DE KELECHI NWAKALI" (Press release) (in Spanish). Huesca. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  13. ^ @nwakali25 (6 April 2022). "OFFICIAL STATEMENT" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Kelechi Nwakali, nuevo jugador de la SD Ponferradina" [Kelechi Nwakali, new player of SD Ponferradina] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Ex-FC Porto B reforça meio-campo de Chaves" [Former FC Porto B reinforces Chaves' midfield] (in European Portuguese). O Jogo. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Kelechi Nwakali joins the Reds". www.barnsleyfc.co.uk. 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  17. ^ Kelechi Nwakali at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  18. ^ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 - Matches - Mali - Nigeria". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
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