Arsenal are in advanced talks to sign Nigerian under-17 duo Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze, according to ESPN FC.
The highly regarded youngsters are being chased by Europe’s biggest clubs with Manchester City and Bayern Munich both touted to be interested.
Sources are saying that it is the Gunners who lead the race to land the pair who played for the Golden Eaglets in their triumph at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Chile last year – a record 5th time Nigeria have won the tournament.
Nwakali, a 17-year-old attacking midfielder, has a brother who plays for City which may help their cause to sign the youngster who was named player of the tournament after captaining the side to success. He has since been called up to train for the U-23 side.
Chukwueze is a 16-year-old winger who also impressed whilst in South America, but any transfer will depend upon obtaining work permits with tougher regulations from the FA which stipulating that a player must have played 75% of international matches in the last 12 months.
Arsenal would probably need to make a case to an Exceptional Panel for a visa or wait until they are 18 due to FIFA’s rules regarding transfers of minors from outside the European Union.
