Kelechi Nwakali is set to spend another season on loan as coach of Arsenal didn’t name him among the players pencilled down for first team action next season.
Nwakali joined Arsenal last summer after a stunning show for the Nigeria at the 2015 U-17 World Youth Championship where he emerged as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament won by Nigeria.
The captain of the Nigerian U-20 team was sent on loan to Dutch second division side MVV Maastricht, where he had a fairly successful time despite their failure to gain promotion to the top league.
His performances which was monitored by Arsenal was thought to have been good enough to earn him a spot in the first team next season, particularly as he was by far the best among all players who went out on loan last season.
However it appears Wenger feels he still needs more time as the boss confirmed the promotion of two players to the first team without mentioning the playmaker.
“We have some young players who will join the squad next season,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. “Like Reiss Nelson, like Ainsley Maitland-Niles already. So they are two players.
“So we have quality players who might have a chance next season and hopefully we will be able to do that again because that’s part of the DNA of the club as well.
“The first quality we have that will be needed is to keep the [first-team] players together. The team has learned a lot, but to transfer that into the new season the first ingredient and the first request is that they stay together, that they fight together.
“So that’s basically my answer: let’s keep them all together.”
