Arsenal forward Kelechi Nwakali has joined Dutch Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo on a season-long loan deal.
According latest reports, the 19-year-old will spend the season at De Koel and will be looking to continue his development and hopefully return to his parent club and feature for the first-team.
Arsenal youngster Kelechi Nwakali will join Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo on a season long loan. pic.twitter.com/Y6s933Vubw
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) August 28, 2017
Nwakali is one of many players potentially being loaned out before the summer transfer window shuts, I feel, as Arsenal are very keen to trim the squad and allow any fringe players or reserves to get valuable playing time elsewhere.
There’s stiff competitions for places in attack, with the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck, Alexandre Lacazette, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott all options for Arsene Wenger. Nwakali has a tough task to dethrone any of the aforementioned, so a loan move is best for him as this stage of his career.
He’s better off getting away from Arsenal given their current demise too, having suffered a 4-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield without registering a shot on target. A move had been mooted for Nwakali for some time, having previously held talks with Wenger earlier this summer. U23s football has no match for real competitive action.
The former Nigerian U17 international, who has scored three goals in seven appearances at youth level for his country, was brought to Arsenal around 12 months ago from the Diamond Academy. Here’s hoping he can shine in the Netherlands.