Ex-Arsenal player Kelechi Nwakali accuses Huesca of sacking him for playing in AFCON

Former Arsenal midfielder and Nigeria international Kelechi Nwakali has accused Spanish club Huesca of pressurising him to miss this year’s AFCON and accept a transfer away before terminating his contract.

The 23-year-old took to social media to post a series of lengthy allegations against the second-tier Spanish side – which Huesca have strenuously denied via a statement.

Nwakali featured three times for Nigeria in this January’s AFCON but claimed that Huesca sporting director Ruben Garcia pressurised him not to be involved in the tournament in Cameroon.

The midfielder has insisted he no longer wishes to “suffer in silence”.

Nwakali wrote in his statement: “Ruben Garcia put extreme pressure on me not to go to AFCON due to it ‘not being an important tournament’. He told me that if I go to AFCON I will not play for Huesca again.

"This behaviour and the lack of respect shown to my country Nigeria was truly heartbreaking and it was just the latest example of the club attempting to bully me into getting their own way.”

The midfielder joined Arsenal in 2016 from the Diamond Football Academy, after helping his nation win the 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup – a tournament in which his fine performances saw him win Golden Ball Award.

The Gunners beat a string of Europe's leading sides, including Manchester City, German, Dutch and Spanish clubs to his signing. He would go on to have three loan stints away from the North London club, including making 16 appearances for Porto B, before joining Huesca in 2019.

Huesca were approached by Mirror Football for comment on the allegations from the player, but they pointed towards their statement of ‘total rejection’ to the claims in response with nothing further to add: “The club