Eric Chelle urged to drop Stanley Nwabali until he finds club

Former Nigeria international Duke Udi has urged Eric Chelle to drop goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali until he finds a new club.

The sturdy safest pair of hands has been without a club since leaving South Africa Premiership club, Chippa United in February.

The 29-year-old, whose contract was set to run until June 2026, requested to release himself to pursue new opportunities but has yet to find a new club.

With Nigeria missing out of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, coach Eric Chelle will need all his players to remain active for a better performance in future assignments including the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Duke Udi, who is capped four times by Nigeria, believes Nwabali needs to find a club and prove himself as number one once again.

Nwabali left Chippa United in February

“We need to learn from the English and Senegalese national teams,” he told Brila FM.

“Sometimes when you do things your own way and it’s not working, you have to look at those doing it better and learn from them.

“If you look at the Senegal national team, they pick players based on merit and who is in form. You must prove yourself to get called up.”

There have been several reports linking Nwabali to a number of clubs on the continent and Europe but the former Lobi Stars and Enyimba shot stopper remains at home.

Nigeria missed out of FIFA World Cup

Nwabali was a member of Nigeria’s squad that lost the finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to hosts Ivory Coast.

He helped the three time African champions win bronze at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, playing six games.

Nigeria missed out of the FIFA World Cup after losing on penalties against DR Congo during the CAF qualifiers in Morocco.

The full time of the game finished 1-1 with DR Congo booking the inter-confederations playoffs on 4-3 penalty shootouts victory.

The Super Eagles under Eric Chelle will now turn attention to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with the tournament to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.