Ex-Super Eagles star, Ifeanyi Udeze has advised Kelechi Nwakali to learn from his ongoing saga with Huesca, if he wants to fulfill his potential.
Nwakali was initially suspended by Huesca after returning late from the Africa Cup of Nations in February.
The relationship between the Nigerian international and the Spanish Segunda B side later went from bad to worse and his contract was finally terminated on Tuesday.
In a statement released via his social media handle, Nwakali accused the Azulgranas of maltreatment, because he decided to represent Nigeria at the last African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
While speaking to brila.net on the saga, Udeze condemned the decision of Huesca to terminate the player’s contract, which is due to expire at the end of June, however, he insisted the player also didn’t cover himself with glory in the presence of his employer.
“I will be the last person to watch a young player go astray without correcting him. Kelechi Nwakali is a great player and I love him with all my heart, but we must tell the truth all the time.” Udeze told brila.net.
“Sometimes his attitudes are not good enough, he has to grow up and learn how to be professional. What happened between him and Huesca is unfortunate, but he needs to answer some questions as well because I feel he played into their hands.”
VILLAREAL, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 13: Takefusa Kubo of Villarreal CF competes for the ball with Kelechi Nwakali of SD Huesca during the La Liga match between Villarreal CF and SD Huesca at Estadio de la Ceramica on September 13, 2020 in Villareal, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
“As a player, when a Club is looking for all possible means to move you on, you have to be careful, because they’ll set you up and hope you fall into their hands, so they can take drastic action against you and possibly deny you your wages in order to save themselves some money.”
“A player can only get away with bad behaviors if the Club considered him to be among the untouchables and their prize asset, which wasn’t Nwakali’s situation with Huesca.”
“He went away with the National Team for the African Cup of Nations which is good, but staying back in the country when the club was expecting him to return to training is totally unacceptable.”
“Yes, sometimes players can take a few days off to see family and friends after an international engagement, but they’ll allow you back in the team if you are a regular and that’s after you must have paid a fine.”
“However, spending a week, two, or three is damn too much. Such behavior is not expected from a player, who is a few months to the end of his contract. He should have been careful.”
“The same thing happened when he was with FC Porto, he came for a game and couldn’t return, because his visa had expired at the time. He ended up spending weeks in Nigeria and that angered the club as well.”
“I’m happy the Footballers Union are now helping him out, at least to get his money, but going forward, he has to learn and behave better.” He concluded.
