Nigeria Under 17 star Kelechi Nwakali announced at his church on Sunday that he had signed for Arsenal, according to a Nigerian report.
Sports Day says Nwakali, a 17-year-old who turns 18 in June, told fellow parishioners at St Mark's Anglican Church in Eziobodo of the news during Sunday service. Eziobodo is a township in Nigeria outside Owerri, the capital of Nigeria's Imo State.
The paper quotes a 'close associate' of Nwakali's saying the midfielder "has signed a five-year deal with Arsenal".
See more: Nigeria's Golden Eaglets retain Under 17 World Cup title – in pictures
Also see: The National's Transfer Talk page
“I won’t be able to mention the exact transfer fee,” the source goes on, “but it is above two million pounds”.
Nwakali captained Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets last year at the Under 17 World Cup in Chile, where he was named the best player in the tournament. Nigeria won two of their three group games, against the United States and hosts Chile, before beating Australia. Brazil and Mexico en route their the final victory over Mali.
Nwakali scored three goals throughout the tournamemt.
He was the second Kelechi in as many tournaments to win the best player award, after Manchester City starlet Kelechi Iheanacho earned top honours at the 2013 U17 World Cup in Abu Dhabi, where Nigeria also won the tournament.
On Tuesday Nwakali took to Twitter and retweeted a supporter's picture of herself wearing an Arsenal shirt with "Nwakali. K" on the back.
He also posted to his Facebook page at the end of January a picture with Arsene Wenger and the caption, "Happy I made it, now the work begins." At that time he was reportedly visiting the club with fellow Nigeria U17 star Samuel Chukwueze.
Arsenal had yet to confirm the signing publicly as of Tuesday afternoon.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
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Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
