Chidiebere Nwakali

Chidiebere Nwakali
Personal information
Full name	Chidiebere Chijioke Nwakali
Date of birth	26 December 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Owerri, Nigeria
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Al-Sahel
Number	5
Youth career
	Shuttle Sports Academy
2014–2015	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team
2015–2018	Manchester City
2015	→ Málaga B (loan)
2015–2016	→ Girona (loan)
2016	→ Start (loan)
2017	→ Sogndal (loan)
2018	→ Aberdeen (loan)
2018	Raków Częstochowa
2019–2020	Kalmar FF
2020–2021	Tuzlaspor
2021–2023	Tuwaiq
2023–2024	Al-Jubail
2024–	Al-Sahel
International career
2013	Nigeria U17
2015	Nigeria U20
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Nigeria
FIFA U-17 World Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:32, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

Chidiebere Chijioke Nwakali (// ^ⓘ; born 26 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who currently plays for Al-Sahel as a defender.

Club career

On 20 January 2014, Nwakali signed a four-year deal with Manchester City from Shuttle Sports Academy, after impressing with Nigeria under-17s in 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[1] He was also a part of the first team's pre-season tour to USA in July.^[2]

On 31 January 2015, Nwakali was loaned to Málaga CF until June 2017, being assigned to the reserves in Tercera División.^[3]^[4] He made his senior debut on 22 February, starting in a 1–0 home win against Antequera CF.^[5]

On 31 August 2015, Nwakali was loaned to Segunda División side Girona FC, in a season-long deal.^[6] However, he had to wait until 5 October to be officially available, due to a work permit.^[7]

On 31 March 2016, Nwakali terminated his loan with the Catalans, after failing to play a single minute for the club, and immediately joined Tippeligaen side IK Start.^[8] On 2 April he made his professional debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mathias Rasmussen in a 1–0 home loss against Viking FK.^[9]

On 8 February 2017, Nwakali moved to Sogndal Fotball on loan.^[10]

He was then loaned to Aberdeen in January 2018.^[11]^[12]

In summer 2018, he joined Polish club Raków Częstochowa but after just two appearances in all competitions, he left the club for personal reasons.^[13]

On 22 January 2019, Kalmar FF announced that they had signed Nwakali on a four-year contract.^[14] In February 2020 Nwakali was sacked from Kalmar FF over his failure to return on time from Christmas break ^[15]

On 21 May, Nwakali traveled to the remote Faroe Islands for a trial with last season's champions, KÍ Klaksvík.^[16]

On 9 September 2023, Nwakali joined Al-Jubail.^[17]

Career statistics

As of 27 July 2018^[18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester City	2014–15	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2015–16	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2016–17	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2017–18	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Girona (loan)	2015–16	Segunda División	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0
IK Start (loan)	2016	Tippeligaen	22	3	1	0	—		—		23	3
Sogndal (loan)	2017	Eliteserien	26	4	1	0	—		1^[a]	0	28	4
Aberdeen (loan)	2017–18	Scottish Premiership	5	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Career total			53	7	5	0	0	0	1	0	59	7

^ Appearance in the Eliteserien relegation play-offs

Honours

Nigeria U17

FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2013

References

^ Mosselhi, Mohamad (21 January 2014). "Manchester City sign Nigeria's youngstar Nwakali : Agent - Africa - Sports". Al-Ahram. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
^ "Report: Nigerian starlets to join City's pre-season tour". Manchester Evening News. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
^ "Trio secure loan moves". Manchester City's official website. 31 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
^ "El City cede a Nwakali hasta 2017" [City loans Nwakali until 2017] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
^ "Reserve team makes things difficult for Antequera CF (1–0)". Málaga's official website. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
^ "El Girona FC incorpora al internacional nigeriano Nwakali" [Girona FC signs Nigerian international Nwakali] (in Spanish). Girona's official website. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Nwakali ya entrena con el equipo" [Nwakali already trains with the squad] (in Spanish). Girona's official website. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Nwakali pone fin a su cesión sin haber jugado ningún minuto" [Nwakali ends his loan without playing a single minute] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
^ "Debuterte for Start" [Debutant for Start] (in Norwegian). Start's official website. 2 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
^ "Englandsproff på lån ut august" (in Norwegian). Sogndal Fotball Official Site. 8 February 2017.
^ "Aberdeen sign Chidi Nwakali on loan from Manchester City". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
^ "Aberdeen FC Archives".
^ "Chidiebere Nwakali odszedł z Rakowa". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
^ Nwakali klar för Kalmar FF!^{[permanent dead link‍]}, kalmarff.se, 22 January 2019
^ "Kalmar FF sack ex-Man City star Nwakali for returning late from Christmas break". 31 January 2020.
^ Hesin skal royndarvenja við KÍ, nordlysid.fo, 23 Mai 2020
^ "Done Deal: Nwakali Joins Saudi Arabia Clubside Al-Jubail Club".
^ "C. Nwakali". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

External links

Chidiebere Nwakali at BDFutbol
Chidiebere Nwakali – FIFA competition record (archived)
Chidiebere Nwakali at Soccerway

[19] Appearance in the Eliteserien relegation play-offs

[1] Mosselhi, Mohamad (21 January 2014). "Manchester City sign Nigeria's youngstar Nwakali : Agent - Africa - Sports". Al-Ahram. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

[2] "Report: Nigerian starlets to join City's pre-season tour". Manchester Evening News. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

[3] "Trio secure loan moves". Manchester City's official website. 31 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

[4] "El City cede a Nwakali hasta 2017" [City loans Nwakali until 2017] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

[5] "Reserve team makes things difficult for Antequera CF (1–0)". Málaga's official website. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

[6] "El Girona FC incorpora al internacional nigeriano Nwakali" [Girona FC signs Nigerian international Nwakali] (in Spanish). Girona's official website. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[7] "Nwakali ya entrena con el equipo" [Nwakali already trains with the squad] (in Spanish). Girona's official website. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[8] "Nwakali pone fin a su cesión sin haber jugado ningún minuto" [Nwakali ends his loan without playing a single minute] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.

[9] "Debuterte for Start" [Debutant for Start] (in Norwegian). Start's official website. 2 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.

[10] "Englandsproff på lån ut august" (in Norwegian). Sogndal Fotball Official Site. 8 February 2017.

[11] "Aberdeen sign Chidi Nwakali on loan from Manchester City". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

[12] "Aberdeen FC Archives".

[13] "Chidiebere Nwakali odszedł z Rakowa". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

[14] Nwakali klar för Kalmar FF!^{[permanent dead link‍]}, kalmarff.se, 22 January 2019

[15] "Kalmar FF sack ex-Man City star Nwakali for returning late from Christmas break". 31 January 2020.

[16] Hesin skal royndarvenja við KÍ, nordlysid.fo, 23 Mai 2020

[17] "Done Deal: Nwakali Joins Saudi Arabia Clubside Al-Jubail Club".

[CNSW-18] "C. Nwakali". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

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