Barnsley set to offload Nwakali after he came back late from his holidays in Nigeria

ENGLISH League One side Barnsley plan to put former Golden Eaglets skipper Kelechi Nwakali up for sale in the hope of offloading him before the close of the current transfer window after he returned late from his holidays in Nigeria.

Nwakali, 27, joined Barnsley in August 2024 on a four year deal after stints in Spain that saw him unable to fulfil the potential he initially showed when he burst on to the scene as a teenager. Back in 2015, Nwakali took the world by storm when he helped Nigeria win the U17 Fifa World Cup, picking up the golden ball award in the process.

He was immediately signed by English Premier League side Arsenal and sent out on loan to several European clubs including MVV Maastricht and VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands and a Porto B in Portugal. On 2 September 2019, Nwakali joined Spanish Segunda División side SD Huesca on a three-year deal there too he failed to make the expected breakthrough as was the case with  fellow Spanish second division side SD Ponferradina who he joined on July 21 2022, and Primeira Liga side Chaves who he signed for on July 20 2023.

On  August 12 2024, Nwakali returned to England, joining Barnsley in the third tier of English football for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal. This was seen as the big career revival move but things appear to have gone pear shaped again after Barnsley coach Conor Hourihane confirmed that Nwakali will leave the club before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Nwakali is yet to feature for Barnsley this season, having missed fixtures against Plymouth Argyle, Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town and Bolton Wanderers. He has been instructed to train away from the first team squad after reporting late for pre-season, a development that saw him excluded from the team's preparations ahead of the new campaign.

Coach Hourihane said: "Obviously there's a couple of weeks to go in the window. Let's see where it takes us."

During his first season with Barnsley, Nwakali appeared in 26 games, including 23 in League One. Since then, however, things appear to have gone downhill for him and the club is now looking to cash in on him as he still has two years left on his contract.