SD Huesca has terminated Super Eagles midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali’s contract for allegedly representing Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.
A statement on the La Liga 2 side website said that they have parted ways with the former Nigeria U17 captain but could not divulge the reason behind the decision.
“Sociedad Deportiva Huesca have terminated the contractual relationship maintained by the first team player Kelechi Nwakali with the Barca entity,” the club wrote in a statement.
“The club has informed the player of the decision to terminate the contract that united both in the current campaign but expired in June 2022. SD Huesca wishes Nwakali the best in his professional future.
In his reaction, Nwakali took to Instagram to reveal why his contract was terminated.
According to him, the club’s sporting director, Ruben Garcia put extreme pressure on him not to go to AFCON.
“In December 2021, I experienced the biggest honour of my life after I received a full international call up for my beloved country. But the joy of this moment quickly came crashing down when the club’s sporting director, Ruben Garcia put extreme pressure on me not to go to AFCON due to it ‘not being an important tournament’. He told me if I go to AFCON, I will not play for Huesca again,” he wrote.
He further said the breakdown in negotiations came when his mother fell ill and needed to pay her hospital bills. He said the club had owed him his wages with the sporting director bullying him to ‘sign a new contract and we will pay you what is owed tonight’.
He further stated the club denied him access to the facilities and stopped him from receiving treatment from the club’s physios.
Nwakali was named the Fifa U17 World Cup player of the tournament in Chile in 2015 after a resounding performance with Nigeria and had caught the attention of Arsenal.
Following his inability to break into Arsenal’s first team, the Gunners sent the Nigerian to Dutch second division side MVV Maastricht.
He enjoyed further spells at VVV-Venlo and FC Porto B before he was shipped out of the Emirates Stadium for a move to Huesca.
In his maiden season at the Estadio El Alcoraz, he featured in just five games as the Spaniards got promoted to the Spanish elite division.
Huesca’s demotion to the second-tier saw him sent to Alcorcon for the remainder of the 2020-21 campaign.
