Nigerian interational Kelechi Nwakali has officially joined Spanish football club Ponferradina. The 24-year-old joined Ponferradina just months after having contract issues with Spain’s Huesca. Nwakali has signed a two-year contract at the Spanish club and will remain with the side until June 2024.
The central midfielder has not played professional football since April when his contract problems with Huesca began. Nwakalilater revealed that Huesca mistreated and sacked him due to refusing to sign a new contract with the club. Ponferradina are aiming to win the Segunda Division in Spain this season and fans are debating whether Nwakali can lead them to promotion. Fans can visit promotion.com.ng to get the latest promo codes before betting on the 2022-23 Segunda Division.
In addition, Nwakali went against Huesca’s wishes by playing at the Africa Cup of Nations 2022. Huesca had told Nwakali not to play at the tournament but the midfielder joined up with the Super Eagles anyway.
Adding to Nwakali’s problems at Huesca was returning late to the club. Nwakali didn’t return to the Spanish club until 10 days after Nigeria were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations 2022. The club initially planned to suspend Nwakali, but took the ultimate decision of terminating his contract.
Despite being just 24-years-old, Nwakali is a well-travelled footballer. He began his career in the Diamond Academy in Nigeria before catching the eyes of Arsenal Football Club in London. Nwakali joined Arsenal in 2016 but before he could play for the club’s U23 team, the midfielder was sent on loan to MVV Maastricht.
After a number of loans from Arsenal that include spending time with FC Porto B, Nwakali left the London-based club and joined Huesca in 2019. The Nigerian also spent time on loan with Alcorcon in Spain.
Nwakali is a central midfielder but has played eight different positions over the course of his career. The majority of his career has seen him play as an attacking midfielder. Last season, Nwakali played 19 La Liga 2 matches for Huesca, but failed to notch a goal or assist for the club.
Last season, Ponferradina finished eighth in the Segunda Division. The team missed the Segunda promotion playoffs by just five points. Manager Jose Gomes will hope that Nwakaliwill help the team push for automatic promotion this term.
Nwakali experienced his most success with Dutch club MVV Maastricht. He played 52 times for the Dutch team scoring seven goals and assisting five. The midfielder has played three times for the Nigerian national team scoring one goal.
According to Transfermarkt, Nwakali is valued at £630,000. His transfer value high was set in December 2021 at £900,000. The website ranks Nwakali as No. 82 among all Nigerian footballers currently.
After signing Nwakali to a two-year contract, Ponferradinareleased a statement about their new signing. The statement read:
“Kelechi Nwakali is a new player for SD Ponferradina. The new Blue and White midfielder will thus continue his career in La Liga SmartBank, in which he has competed in the last two seasons with AD Alcorcon and SD Huesca.
“Kelechi began his career at the Diamond Football Academy in his country. His qualities caught the attention of Arsenal FC, who signed him for their under-23 team in 2016. Later, he played on loan at MVV Maastrich in the second division of the Netherlands and at VVV Venlo, with whom he competed in the Dutch top flight.”
Nwakali will begin the Segunda season on August 12, 2022.
