UD Huesca of Spain midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali has come out with startling revelation that he is still holding a strong desire for a career with Arsenal of England, where he never got to play a single match during a three-year contract with The Gunners, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although many observers would have thought the Chile 20-15 FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning captain and most valuable player would despise Arsenal for sending him on loan to MVV Maastricht and VV Van Venlo of Holland as well as FC Porto of Portugal, instead of allowing him grow at Emirates Stadium, Nwakali disclosed that he remains in contact with The Gunners.
The 22-year-old central midfielder and once-capped Super Eagles’ B-team player eventually left Arsenal in a full transfer to Huesca in the summer of 2019, but he is not holding any grudge against the London-based English Premier League side, as he conceded that they could not keep him due to work-permit issues.
Citing Arsenal’s renowned reputation for developing young players, Nwakali, who skippered the Eaglets to beat Mali in the Chile 2015 final and claimed the golden ball award ahead of Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze, who are now both rated above him in the Super Eagles, enthused that he could still play for The Gunners once he overcomes the work-permit hurdle.
Nwakali went on to categorically hint that he would still love to play for Arsenal anytime in the future, and the product of Umuahia-based Diamond Football Academy told tribalfootball.com: “Anything is possible in football. I still talk to the Director of the Club.
“The process of getting UK work permit is long. With what I have learnt in Europe in my few years now, I think it is better getting a club in Europe first, before coming to England and with that, you don’t need all those long process again of getting a work permit.
“After the 2015 FIFA U 17 World Cup in Chile, there were lot of clubs that were interested in my signature. I knew many clubs wanted me, but I chose Arsenal because of their good history in the promotion and development of young players at the club. We keep learning every day.”
