Kelechi Nwakali’s brother, Allwell, has categorically slammed reports that the Nigeria international turned down FC Zurich over a financial disagreement.
The talented midfielder’s future has been a hot topic of debate since Spanish side Huesca terminated his contract in April.
Nwakali was close to joining the Swiss Super League giants afterwards, however, that ambitions faded into the thin air.
And reports in some sect of media claimed the former Arsenal youngster turned down the 13-time Swiss kings because he was not contented with the club’s offers financially.
However, GOAL has since learned that FC Zurich never offered the 24-year-old any contract, while Allwell hit out at the ‘malicious’ news spread around.
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“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 FZ 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.”
Shina OludareCurrently, the midfielder is training alone and his next destination is expected to be announced before the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
During the 2021-22 season, Nwakali featured in 19 league games before joining the Nigeria national team for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Since his return after the Super Eagles' failed expedition in Cameroon, he was considered for action by manager Xisco Munoz at his club.
The midfielder claimed the club refused to pay his wages while his mother took ill and threatened to leave him out of the team following his decision to compete at Afcon.
"It comes with huge regret that I am writing this message after SD Huesca announced the termination of my contract,” part of Nwakali’s statement on social media read.
"I have kept silent out of respect for the Huesca fans and my team-mates, but I will no longer suffer in silence. The time has come for people to know the truth and why these past few months have been awful for me and my family.
"In December 2021, I experienced the biggest honour of my life after I received a full international call-up for my beloved Nigeria.
"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 that if I go to Afcon I will not play for Huesca again. This behaviour and the lack of respect shown to my country Nigeria was truly heart-breaking and it was just the latest example of the club attempting to bully me into getting their own way.”
