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It was a long, hard battle to sign Nwankwo Kanu. Rumours had been spreading of his arrival to Highbury since March of 1998 yet when things began to heat up in November of that same year, several other clubs became involve in the hunt for Nwankwo. Fortunately, the only other club truly interested in Kanu was Chelsea (LOL). Before we dive into the actual acquisition of Kanu it may actually help to explain the history of this Nigerian superstar. Nwankwo started out in his hometown club of Owerri. After being found out by Ajax scouts, Kanu joined them and enjoyed great success with the club. Coming with this was a chance to captain the 1996 Nigerian olympic team in which they took the gold. Tragedy soon arrived for Kanu as he was diagnosed with various heart problems. Things still looked okay for him as he was transfered to Internazionale in Serie A but soon after his transfer his heart trouble came back and he required several bouts of surgery. His late debut for Internazionale came in early 1998 in a dull 1-1 draw with Fiorentina. The lack of finding a first team spot with Internazionale only hampered Kanu's chances even more (with the world class strikers already there). That season, Kanu only managed to score one goal in the few games he played. Things became even worse that summer when Inter signed Roberto Baggio from Bologna. This only further destroyed Kanu's chances of ever finding a first team place with the club. Soon after becoming distraught at how little football he was able to play, Kanu requested a move and Inter subsequently agreed. The first club to come was Arsenal who at the time were having a bit of a goal scoring slump and really needed someone to come to the rescue with both Nicolas Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp failing to get on the score sheet. It soon became rumoured, in December of 1998 that Arsenal and Inter terminated negotiations because they could not reach an agreement on an appropriate fee. Things did suddenly change when Arsenal came out on January 15th saying they had reached an agreement with both Inter and Kanu to bring him to Highbury. Although most of North London was jubilant there were still some obstacles including whether Kanu was healthy enough to play (he had previously needed surgery on his knee) for Arsenal and whether he could gain a UK work permit. He did gain a work permit, after almost one month and began his arsenal career in the most controversial of fashions. Kanu's arsenal debut came in the 5th round FA Cup tie against Sheffield United. He had just come on in the 65th minute for Kaba Diawara and was ready to play. It took ten minutes but he finally had made a good play. A cross to Marc Overmars may have proved to be the winning goal making the score 2-1 in our favour. Unfortunately, the goal came after the keeper had gone to check on an injured Utd. player. A debate ensued and as it ended up a replay had become necessary with loads related to that as well. Kanu's heroics became known in his first good game. It was another FA Cup match, this time the quarterfinal, against Derby. Unfortunately we underestimated the entire derby squad and at the 80th minute the game remained goalless. Kanu had recently come on as a substitute and it was the dying minutes of the game. The last thing we wanted was a replay. Suddenly, with so little time left, Kanu drove one in and gave us the winning goal. His efforts became highly noted as he scored in several games including two in the 6-1 thrashing against middlesbrough (including one backheel from 15 yd.) (You can download this fantastic goal from Arsenal Goal Videos at this link) Full Name: Nwankwo Kanu Position: Striker, Centre Forward, Attacking Midfield Date of Birth: 1/8/76 Place of Birth: Owerri Nigeria Height: 6'5 Weight: 12st.6lb. Previous Clubs: Internazionale Ajax Owerri (Nigeria) Joined Arsenal: 15/1/99 for £4,500,000 from internazionale Arsenal Debut: 13/2/99 against Sheffield Utd. in the FA Cup 5th round(Final Score 2-1 arsenal) Honours: Under 17 world championship with Nigeria (1993) Dutch Championship (Ajax)- 1994, 1995, 1996 Dutch Cup (Ajax)- 95, 96 Dutch Supercup (Ajax)- 1995 Champions League (Ajax)- 1995 Intercontinental Cup (Ajax)- 1995 Olympic Gold Medal (Nigeria)- 1996 African Player of the Year (Ajax and Nigeria)- 1996 International: Kanu captained the 1996 nigerian olympic team to a gold medal and is still a common fixture on the squad with two first team goals.
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