Arthur Okonkwo: Super Eagles Of Nigeria Lands New Goalkeeper

Super Eagles of Nigeria have landed another goalkeeper option as the world football governing body, FIFA, approved the nationality switch of Arthur Okonkwo.

Arthur Okonkwo was born to Nigerian parents in London, England, on September 9, 2001. He developed his football career at Arsenal Academy from childhood.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper gained promotion to Arsenal’s senior team on July 1, 2021, but wasn’t able to establish himself at the club’s senior side.

Hence, Arthur Okonkwo was on loan at Crewe Alexandra between July 29, 2022, to January 15, 2023. He spent the second half of the 2022-2023 season on loan at Sturm Graz.

Since September 1, 2023, Okonkwo has been on loan at fourth-tier club, Wrexham AFC, and he is expected to return to Arsenal at the end of this season.

Since then, the English-born goalkeeper has made 26 appearances in all competitions for Wrexham, in which he kept 11 clean sheets.

Arthur Okonkwo has played for England under-15, under-16, under-17, and under-18 national teams. He has made a total of 11 appearances for all the aforementioned teams.

Now that FIFA has permitted Okonkwo to play for Nigeria, it is left to be seen whether the NFF will invite him to the national team anytime soon.

If that happens, the youngster will compete with Francis Uzoho and Stanley Nwabali for the starting shirt in the national team. Recall that Nwabali overtook Uzoho in the national team and was Super Eagles’ first choice goalkeeper throughout the 2023 AFCON.