Kelechi Nwakali


Kelechi Nwakali is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Spanish club SD Huesca.

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, he signed with English Premier League side Arsenal.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Huesca

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

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. 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.

Career statistics