Kelechi Nwakali can’t travel with his country to the World Cup this summer, despite calls for him to go after an impressive performance against Atletico Madrid.
2Kelechi Nwakali
First loan:
- Position: Winger/Attacking-midfielder
- Loaned to: VVV-Venlo – Eredivisie (summer transfer window)
- Appearances: 12
- Goals: 1
Second loan:
- Position: Attacking-midfielder
- Loaned to: MVV Maastricht – Eerste Divisie (winter transfer window)
- Appearances: 18
- Goals: 4
- Assists: 1
Like Stephy Mavididi, Nwakali had a very disappointing first loan spell. You wouldn’t have thought it from his debut, when he came on and scored an equaliser in injury-time. Unfortunately he never really got going after that, and only played 480 minutes in all competitions (a bit more than five matches’ worth).
Arsenal recalled him and sent him back to fellow Netherlands side Maastricht, one league down, where he played last season. In the months after that he more than doubled his minutes, getting 1,231 with Maastricht alone. He also got on the score-sheet a few times, and won more of his games.
It’s not all perfect, as the team couldn’t progress through the promotion play-offs against Almere City. Overall though, it was a much better loan spell for the second half of the season.