Kelechi Nwakali made the SD Huesca squad on Friday, for the first time since his summer transfer from Arsenal.

Over nine months since leaving Arsenal, Kelechi Nwakali finally made the SD Huesca squad for the first time on Friday. He made the bench for their match against Malaga, which they ended up winning 3-1.

Even though he didn’t make it onto the pitch, it’s the next step in a long journey for the midfielder. Just as during his time with Arsenal and FC Porto B, Nwakali had initially had issues getting a work permit to play.

We exclusively confirmed in mid-February that the player finally had all his paperwork sorted. Our sources also confirmed that the club aimed to integrate him into the first-team this season. Unfortunately, the pandemic brought a new delay to that progress.

With football’s return in Spain this week, Nwakali had the chance to join up with his new teammates for a competitive match for the first time. He wrote on Instagram that his “football life is back”.

The 22-year-old’s last official matches were with the Nigeria u23s at the 2019 u23 AFCON. He scored a free-kick and made three starts at the competition. Hopefully, the long wait for his Huesca debut will end soon enough.