Kelechi Nwakali has confirmed his move to Arsenal.
ABUJA, June 14 – Nigerian youngster Kelechi Nwakali has revealed via a Facebook post that he has signed for Arsenal.
The post features photos of Nwakali with Gunners star Laurent Koscielny, and manager Arsene Wenger, as well as a picture of the midfielder holding an Arsenal shirt with his name on it.
The starlet adjusted his biographical information on the social networking site to read: “Footballer for Arsenal FC and Nigeria U20.”
The 18-year-old was rumoured to be a transfer target for Arsenal’s Premier League rivals, Manchester City, but described his move to the Emirates as a dream come true.
“So many teams were interested in me but it has been my dream at a tender age to play for Arsenal.”
Nwakali was part of the Nigerian team that won last year’s FIFA under-17 World Cup in Chile, where he earned the Golden Ball award after notching three goals and three assists.
Nwakali captained the Golden Eaglets and scored the third fastest goal in the history of the tournament when he found the net after just 25 seconds against Chile.
The youngster is rumoured to have asked for the number 25 jersey, the same number worn by his idol, former Arsenal man, Nwankwo Kanu.
Considered to be a box-to-box midfielder, the starlet has been compared to Patrick Viera, and has stated he draws inspiration from Yaya Toure, saying in an interview with fifa.com:
“I love watching him play because he loves to win. That’s all he wants. You can see it in the way he plays, the way he runs and even in the way he walks on the pitch.”
Nwakali is purported to have signed a five-year deal with Arsenal although the club are yet to confirm the signing.
