Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Carl Onuoha Ikeme has put Arsenal of England fast-rising shot-stopper, Arthur Okonkwo at the head of his talents hunt for the Nigerian national team.
Information reaching sports247.ng reveals that Okonkwo, who has been knocking frenetically on The Gunners’ first team squad over the past three years is said to be leading the pack of possibilities that also includes Maduka Okoye of Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany, Sebastian Osigwe of SC Kriens in Switzerland and David Nwolokor of SKF Sered.
However, like all the other options, Okonkwo has an eye on lining out at senior level with England, and it is left to be seen how Ikeme would be able to convince him and others to pick Nigeria ahead of other nations.
It would be recalled that Okonkwo was first spotted training with The Gunners’ first-team ahead of their Carabao Cup clash with Doncaster Rovers, but was first named on the under-18 team’s bench when he was 15.
Now 16-years-old, the Nigerian-born fast-rising shot-stopper has been on the bench for Arsenal’s U18s on four occasions this season and keeps getting opportunities to train with the main squad.
An Arsenal insider stated: “It doesn’t seem as if Okonkwo is going to get any first-team action just yet, but I believe it will be a good experience for the youngster to face the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud.
“He’s considered a talented goalkeeper and could well be seen in the first-team again if he can continue his development at youth level.”
