Prove your self, SD Huesca tells Nwakali
Spanish second tier side, SD Huesca, has asked Nigeria’s kelechi Nwakali to brace up and prove the worth of his recent move to the club.
The youthful star recently had a permanent move to the Spanish club, having spent some unfruitful moments with the English Premiership side, Arsenal since he embarked on greener pastures in Europe.
His move is arguably one of the best Nigerian transfers of the off-season and it was the one that happened just before the European deadline, and it went almost unnoticed.
The Nigerian has been the subject of several loan deals since he joined Arsenal after he could not fit into the regular team of the English side.
He was shunted from pillar to post every season, to different middling clubs. From MVV Maastricht, to VV Venlo, back to Maachstricht, and then Porto B before this current move.
The key difference this time is that it’s a permanent transfer, not a loan. It is also a move to a lower division team, which means the 21-year-old can focus on his development away from pressure, and with some stability about his immediate future.
Since that of the 2016 move to Arsenal, Nwakali’s best times have come while playing for Maastricht in the Dutch second tier. A six-month spell at VV Venlo in the Eredivisie did not go well, and Porto’s heavy focus on acquiring, developing, and selling South American talent meant he was always at a disadvantage there.
In the middle of those moves, Nigeria coach, Gernot Rohr, came under some fire for not selecting the youngster, at least for his provisional 2018 World Cup squad.
Those questions took on a shrill intensity when Nwakali and a posse of selected B-team players put on a show in an end-of-season friendly against a beat-up, if youthful, Atletico Madrid side.
Nwakali captained Nigeria to the Under-17 World Cup title in 2015, but has not translated that into senior success.
With the Super Eagles midfield looking stodgy with John Obi Mikel hanging on, Nwakali had been installed as the natural mantle bearer in the minds of fans, well before the departure of the former Super Eagles captain.
Nwakali’s performances with the age-grade teams cemented that grip even more. Recently, while playing for the under 23s, he helped orchestrate the defeats of Libya and then Sudan, even while failing to see action with Porto B.
Huesca appears to be the perfect choice. Spain’s leagues are technical, which suits his game better than the blood and thunder of England. They are a lower division team, which allows him to make his mistakes without too much scrutiny.
His 2015 teammates Victor Osimhen [Lille] and Samuel Chukwueze [Villarreal] have gone through that second tier fire and have become regular members of the senior national team, as well as signing for top sides.
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Rohr is building a team populated mostly by youngsters, one with an average age of 23. If ever there was a time for the new kids to make a run at international football with Nigeria, now would be it.
But Nwakali cannot hide behind youth any more. If this move does not work for him, it is doubtful anything else will.