Uncut diamond: Nwakali is regarded as very exciting by his new club

Midfielder agrees five-year deal as Arsenal beat Manchester City to complete £4million move

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Published on:

09 Mar 2016, 9:49 am

By Arsenal correspondent Tony Hughes

Nigerian teenager Kelechi Nwakali has signed a five-year Arsenal contract, he has confirmed.

The 17-year-old attacking midfielder has completed a protracted move to the Gunners from the Diamond academy in Nigeria following extensive talks.

As revealed by Football Insider in January, Nwakali will move to Emirates Stadium in a deal worth £4million with his countryman and fellow teenager Samuel Chukwueze.

The paperwork is still being finalised on the Chukwueze transfer but the Nwakali deal is now complete.

"I just came back from London, I have signed a five-year contract with Arsenal," Nwakali told allnigeriasoccer.com on Wednesday after training with the Diamond academy. "So many teams were interested in me but it has been my dream at a tender age to play for Arsenal."

Arsenal were among a number of leading European clubs who scouted Nwakali and Chukwueze in last year's Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile.

Nwakali, 17, was named as player of the tournament, while Chukwueze, 16, also delivered a series of promising displays and scored three goals for Nigerian from midfield.

Chelsea and Manchester City were among the clubs who were interested in signing Nwakali, while there was also interest from several Continental big-hitters, including Bayern Munich.

In other Arsenal transfer news, Mathieu Debuchy has spoken of his anger at being frozen out by Arsene Wenger before his January loan move to Bordeaux.

Arsenal

Chelsea FC

Kelechi Nwakali