Huesca of Spain midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali is still relishing his club’s promotion back to the top-flight Spanish LaLiga, but admits it was not an easy feat for them to pull off, as he reckons that the lower cadre Segunda Division is a tough class to scale through, megasportsarena.com reports.
The former Arsenal of England youngster, who The Gunners loaned severally to MVV Maastricht and VV Van Venlo of Holland as well as FC Porto of Portugal, before he eventually joined Huesca on a full contract last summer, hinted that he initially struggled to get into the club’s main squad due to the tough nature of the league, is also happy that he eventually ended the season well.
Indeed, the 22-year-old product of Diamond Football Academy of Umuahia shot into Huesca’s first team only in the last handful of games for the campaign and got to start the last match that confirmed their place in LaLiga for next season which he admits was a huge turnaround to when he initially has struggled to find his feet.
The Chile 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup-winning captain is now relishing the change of fortune that has come his way but the red-lipped and Cupid-faced lad, who joined Arsenal in 2016 but failed to play a single game for the Emirates Stadium outfit during his three-year contract, admitted he must work harder in order to stay relevant for Huesca next season in LaLiga.
Incidentally, Nwakali played five league games for La Oscenses, owing to visa issues that held him back in Nigeria for several weeks before he eventually joined the club towards the end of last year, but he enthused that the worst is over for him and he now hopes to feature regularly for the side next season in the top-flight elite league.
Although he insists he is ready to bid his time before becoming an integral part of the Nigerian national team, Nwakali acknowledged that he would need to play better and regularly in LaLiga to boost his chances of regular calls to the Super Eagles, where two of his Chile 2015 colleagues, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze are already regulars.
Nwakali told The Guardian: “I believe when Coach Gernot Rohr needs me, he will invite me. I speak with him at times and I know my time will soon come. I am delighted that my teammates, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze are doing well in Super Eagles. My aspiration is to join them in the team. They understand my kind of play and we connect very well on the pitch.”
“I am delighted that my club has gained promotion to the Spanish LaLiga. It was not easy for my team at the second division because of the quality of teams at that level. I was only able to play in five games because I had Spanish visa issues. My focus now is to work hard to play regularly when the league resumes.”
