By John Essien
Kelechi Nwakali’s brother, Allwell, has rubbished claims suggesting that the Nigerian international turned down FC Zurich over a financial disagreement.
The former Golden Eaglets star became a free agent after Spanish Segunda side SD Huesca terminated his contract in April.
Nwakali’s hope of getting a new club suffered a huge setback as some sect of media claimed the former Arsenal youngster rejected an offer from Swiss Super League champions FC Zurich.
However, in a recent development, Heritage Times HT gathered that FC Zurich never offered the 24-year-old any contract, with Allwell describing the claim as ‘malicious’ news spread around.
“Yes, I can confirm that there were talks between Kelechi Nwakali’s representatives and FC Zurich and there seemed to be strong interest from the club,” Nwakali’s brother told GOAL.
“However, in football, there are a lot of moving parts, the communication dwindled when their coach left for the Bundesliga.
“Kelechi never received an official offer from FC Zurich not to talk of refusing an offer because of money.
“Kelechi is committed to playing football in a club with a good footballing project and money is not the primary consideration for him at this time.
“For anyone to start a story about him to label him in this manner seems malicious and unfair.”
During the 2021-22 season, Nwakali featured in 19 league games before joining the Nigeria national team for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Nwakali stated that his decision to represent Nigeria at the continental showpiece had led to the club terminating his contract.
Currently, the midfielder is training alone and his next destination is expected to be announced before the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
