| Kelechi Nwakali | |
| Birth Date: | 5 June 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Owerri, Nigeria |
| Height: | 1.85 m |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Barnsley |
| Youthclubs1: | Diamond Football Academy |
| Years1: | 2016–2019 |
| Clubs1: | Arsenal |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2016–2017 |
| Clubs2: | → MVV (loan) |
| Caps2: | 29 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 2017 |
| Clubs3: | → VVV-Venlo (loan) |
| Caps3: | 9 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2018 |
| Clubs4: | → MVV (loan) |
| Caps4: | 16 |
| Goals4: | 4 |
| Years5: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs5: | → Porto B (loan) |
| Caps5: | 16 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2019–2022 |
| Clubs6: | Huesca |
| Caps6: | 29 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2021 |
| Clubs7: | → Alcorcón (loan) |
| Caps7: | 18 |
| Goals7: | 4 |
| Years8: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs8: | Ponferradina |
| Caps8: | 33 |
| Goals8: | 1 |
| Years9: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs9: | Chaves |
| Caps9: | 32 |
| Goals9: | 1 |
| Years10: | 2024– |
| Clubs10: | Barnsley |
| Caps10: | 0 |
| Goals10: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2015 |
| Nationalteam1: | Nigeria U17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 10 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 4 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2019 |
| Nationalteam2: | Nigeria U23 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2018– |
| Nationalteam3: | Nigeria |
| Nationalcaps3: | 4 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 12 August 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 11 August 2023 |
Kelechi Nwakali (; born 5 June 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Barnsley.
Nwakali started his career at the Diamond Football Academy, Nigeria.[1] After his fine performances at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in which he won the Golden Ball Award,[2] he signed with English Premier League side Arsenal.[3]
On 16 September 2016, it was announced that Nwakali had signed for Eerste Divisie side MVV Maastricht on loan for the season.[4] He then made his professional debut for the side the same day against Jong Ajax. He came on as a 92nd-minute substitute for Thomas Verheijdt as MVV won 1–0.[5]
On 29 August 2017, Nwakali joined Dutch side VVV-Venlo on loan for the first 6 months of the 2017–18 Eredivisie season.[6] On 10 September 2017 Nwakali scored on his Eredivisie debut against FC Groningen, scoring a stoppage time equaliser in a 1–1 draw. After the initial six-month loan deal expired, Nwakali elected to leave Venlo and return to MVV Maastricht for the second half of the season.[6]
On 24 January 2018, Nwakali returned to Maastricht on loan for the second half of the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie season, having played just 380 minutes of Eredivisie football with Venlo.[7]
Nwakali signed on loan for FC Porto on 18 July 2018, and was assigned to Porto B ahead of the 2018–19 LigaPro season.
In March 2019, he was stuck in Nigeria due to issues with his visa.[8]
On 2 September 2019, Nwakali joined Spanish Segunda División side SD Huesca on a three-year deal.[9] After leaving the club he thanked Arsenal for his time with them, despite not making a first-team appearance.[10]
Nwakali made his La Liga debut on 13 September 2020, in a 1–1 away draw against Villarreal CF. On 31 January of the following year, he was loaned to AD Alcorcón in the second division, for the remainder of the season.[11]
On 5 April 2022, Nwakali's contract was terminated early.[12] The following day Nwakali released an official statement through his official Twitter account denouncing his treatment by SD Huesca and the club's Sporting Director, Rubén García, starting in December 2021, by pressuring him not to attend the Africa Cup of Nations, for which he had been called up, paying his wages late, pressuring him to sign a new contract in order to get paid the wages he was owed, trying to force his transfer out of the club and, finally, suspending him and banning him from club trainings.[13]
On 21 July 2022, Nwakali signed for fellow Spanish second division side SD Ponferradina.[14]
On 20 July 2023, Nwakali signed for Primeira Liga side Chaves.[15]
On 12 August 2024, Nwakali joined League One club Barnsley for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.[16]
Nwakali was named in the provisional squad for the Nigeria U17 side before the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup but did not make the final squad.[2] However, coming into the 2015 U-17 World Cup he was named captain as he led his country to the title, winning the Golden Ball Award along the way.[2] On Christmas Day 2021 he was called up to Senior team that will participate in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon which was postponed to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Arsenal | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| MVV (loan) | 2016–17 | Eerste Divisie | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[17] | 1 | 34 | 3 | ||
| VVV-Venlo (loan) | 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| MVV (loan) | 2017–18 | Eerste Divisie | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 18 | 4 | ||
| Porto B (loan) | 2018–19 | LigaPro | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||||
| Huesca | 2019–20 | Segunda División | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Segunda División | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||||
| Alcorcón (loan) | 2020–21 | Segunda División | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 4 | |||
| Ponferradina | 2022–23 | Segunda División | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 1 | |||
| Chaves | 2023–24 | Primeira Liga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Career total | 153 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 169 | 13 | |||
Nigeria U17
Individual