According to the Mail, Arthur Okonkwo is expected to have surgery on his jaw after taking a knee to the face in Wrexham’s 2-2 draw with Harrogate Town a week ago.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper, who is on loan at the Racecourse Ground for the season, suffered the injury after 30 minutes but played until half time before being substituted.
Manager Phil Parkinson revealed after the game that the player was feeling “dazed” but that he didn’t think it was a serious injury. The need for a procedure suggests otherwise although the player could return with a face mask in a matter of weeks rather than months.
Okonkwo has kept 6 clean sheets in 13 appearances for Wrexham helping the newly-promoted side to second in the League Two standings.
Promoted to the Arsenal first team in 2021, he spent time on loan with Crewe Alexandra and Sturm Graz last season. While he excelled at both clubs, Okonkwo found himself behind Karl Hein in the keeper pecking on his return to London Colney.
It was widely assumed he’d be sold for a small profit but for whatever reason that didn’t happen. In all likelihood, he’ll become a free agent next summer when his current Arsenal contract expires.
Okonkwo made a couple of errors in a game. I don’t remember but it was a Carabao or a friendly but the plan for developing him within the first team was kind of canceled outright. Football is really cut-throat.
Think we’ll get a small compensation fee for him, strange he did really well in Austria I thought he had a big future. 22 is like 19 for a GK