Many were shocked when Nigerian sensation Kelechi Nwakali joined the B team of Portuguese league giants FC Porto as against a move to a top team in a different league.
Linked with a possible move to either NAC Breda or AZ Alkmaar of the Dutch Eredivisie, the 20 year old Arsenal midfielder shunned the chance in preference for a move to Porto B, who are campaigning in the second division in Portugal.
Owngoalnigeria.com transfer expert, Daniel Martins takes a look at five possible reasons which could have made him prefer a move to Porto B despite a late push by AZ Alkmaar to sign him.
1. Career Security – Porto insisted on having an option to buy him permanently next summer from Arsenal and when you look at the history of Porto in recent times, their players move to top teams.
So if they insist on using the option of signing him permanently next summer he will remain at a club, where he could secure a move to a big club in the future.
2. More Money – It goes without saying that their welfare package is way better than what he was offered by clubs in the Netherlands. Porto pay well, they pay more than even the top teams in Holland.
3. Change Of Environment – The three times he has played on loan has been in the Netherlands. Twice at MVV Maastricht and six months at VVV Venlo. Maybe the desire for a change also pushed him to Portugal.
4. Bigger Platform – Not quite an immediate target but among all the teams battling to loan him, Porto were by far the biggest with all due respect to the other teams. However he can only capitalise on their reputation if he makes the step up to the first team from the B team.
5. Regular Playing Time – One thing that is sure is that he will surely get games with Porto B. His career is in dire need of a season where he can play like 18 games in a row and no doubt about getting that amount at Porto B.
