{"id":605,"date":"2026-05-19T10:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/barnsley-extend-kelechi-nwakalis-contract-beyond-2025-26-season\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T10:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:04:35","slug":"barnsley-extend-kelechi-nwakalis-contract-beyond-2025-26-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/barnsley-extend-kelechi-nwakalis-contract-beyond-2025-26-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Barnsley Extend Kelechi Nwakali\u2019s Contract Beyond 2025\/26 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Barnsley FC have confirmed that Nigerian midfielder Kelechi Nwakali will continue his career at Oakwell past the end of the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n<p>The update was released through the club\u2019s official retained and released list, with Barnsley taking up contract extension clauses for a number of players, including the former Golden Eaglets captain.<\/p>\n<p>Nwakali\u2019s season got off to a difficult start, as he made 26 appearances before he temporarily fell out of the plans under former manager Conor Hourihane. The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball winner had also been connected with a potential departure after he was initially judged to be surplus to requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Even with the uncertainty surrounding his future, the midfielder remained focused, keeping his sharpness by featuring for the development group. He then managed to work his way back into the first-team picture toward the end of the campaign, and Barnsley\u2019s decision to keep him now gives Nwakali a strong chance to establish himself as a regular starter ahead of the new season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barnsley FC have confirmed that Nigerian midfielder Kelechi Nwakali will continue his career at Oakwell past the end of the 2025\/26 season. The update was released through the club\u2019s official retained and released list, with Barnsley taking up contract extension clauses for a number of players, including the former Golden Eaglets captain. Nwakali\u2019s season got [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Barnsley Confirm Kelechi Nwakali Contract Extension 2026","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Barnsley confirm Kelechi Nwakali\u2019s new deal, extending his stay at Oakwell beyond 2025\/26 as the midfielder secures his future wit","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Barnsley Confirm Kelechi Nwakali Contract Extension 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barnsley confirm Kelechi 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