Five Arsenal Academy products of Nigerian descent have taken to social media to congratulate Hale End Academy graduate, Arthur Okonkwo on signing a new contract at The Gunners.
The England youth international of Nigerian descent ended all possibility of him leaving the Emirates Stadium this summer by putting pen to paper on a fresh three-year contract.
And to top it all, he has been promoted to the first team and allocated the number 33 jersey for the 2021-2022 campaign.
Okonkwo joined Arsenal at U9 level, signed scholarship forms in July 2018, and two months later inked his first professional contract which ran out on June 30, 2021.
Last season, he was a non-playing substitute in Europa League fixtures against Olympiakos and Villarreal twice, and trained with the first team on numerous occasions.
Writing on Instagram, Okonkwo said: “Proud to have signed a new 3-year contract with the Club I love. My home is Arsenal. See you all soon”.
Ex-Arsenal schoolboy Armstrong Okoflex, Tobi Omole and Joseph Olowu, who were released by Arsenal in the summer of 2020 and 2021 respectively, U23 stars Tim Akinola and Ryan Alebiosu have all reacted to Okonkwo’s post.
Meanwhile, Turkish Super Lig side, Sivasspor have reached an agreement with Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk for the season-long loan of former Flying Eagles striker, Olarenwaju Kayode. Kayode had a successful loan spell at Sivasspor in 2020-2021, scoring 11 goals and providing two assists in 40 games.
Another former Nigeria U20 international, Chuks Akabueze has switched clubs, joining second-tier Bandirmaspor from Umraniyespor.