Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo is now eligible to be selected by Nigeria after his international switch of allegiance from England was accepted by FIFA, and is expected to be in the Nigeria squad for the Unity Cup.
This would be a full circle moment for the goalkeeper, whose journey to becoming a Nigeria international began at that tournament last year, but whether he will be the solution to Nigeria's current goalkeeping quagmire will have to be proven on the field.
Okonkwo's entry comes at a time when Nigeria's goalkeeping depth chart has gone from stable to unsettled. Stanley Nwabali, who was central to Nigeria's run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and a third place finish at the 2025 edition, is currently without a club, having left Chippa United soon after AFCON, leaving him with limited to no match sharpness.
In their two recent international friendlies, against Iran and Jordan, the trio of Maduka Okoye, Francis Uzoho and Adebayo Adeleye delivered performances that did little to settle the position.
It is into that uncertainty that Okonkwo steps in.
Born in London to Nigerian parents, the 24-year-old has represented England at every youth level from under-15 to under-18.
Okonkwo came through Arsenal's youth academy, which also produced his future international teammates Alex Iwobi and Semi Ajayi. He went on to have loan spells at Crewe Alexandra and Sturm Graz before joining Wrexham, initially on loan in the summer of 2023, before the deal was made permanent the following year.
Since joining the Welsh side, Okonkwo has established himself as the team's starting goalkeeper, making 119 appearances helping them to two promotions.
This season, he has made 42 appearances in all competitions, keeping 10 clean sheets in 37 Championship games, the joint seventh-highest in the division.
Those performances caught the eye of Super Eagles officials, who approached the goalkeeper last year during the Unity Cup tournament in London.
"He was very enthusiastic about switching allegiance and playing for Nigeria, and that made things easier for us," an NFF official with knowledge of the process told ESPN.
With the paperwork now completed, the official says Okonkwo is expected to be in Nigeria's squad for this year's Unity Cup where they will face India, Jamaica and Zimbabwe in London this offseason.
"The coach wants him, and would like to have him in the squad as soon as possible," the official said.
That is understandable. Over the last few years, Nigeria's goalkeeping woes have been well-documented since the departure of the legendary Vincent Enyeama. Carl Ikeme stepped into and filled that breach, but was forced into early retirement by illness.
Then came the yo-yo periods with Daniel Akpeyi, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Uzoho and Okoye. Each of these were always one blooper away from calamity, and almost always seemed to deliver it. Until Nwabali's arrival.
For the last three years, the former Go Round FC goalkeeper had brought the sort of stability that Nigerian football fans were begging for since the departure of Enyeama. And then, in the middle of qualifiers for the World Cup, Nwabali appeared to go rogue, having brain freeze moments that caused collective palpitations among Nigerians.
He did help the Super Eagles to a third place finish at AFCON before inexplicably terminating his contract with Chippa United soon after. Without a club, Nwabali was left out of the Super Eagles friendly matches, with his place taken first by Okoye, then Uzoho and finally Adeleye. None impressed.
Okonkwo brings a special, well-rounded skillset to the position. He is the quintessential modern goalkeeper; quick off his line, composed with the ball at his feet, and shaped by the rigour of English football.
For Nigeria, that last part is a boon. When he began life as Nigeria's starting goalkeeper, Enyeama still had some rough edges, chief of which was, like a vampire, a rabid fear of crosses.
But after a couple of weeks on trial at Bolton Wanderers, he returned a different, much improved beast, eating up crosses for breakfast, and with even quicker reaction times. So much so that he began training the goalkeepers at Enyimba.
It was a similar skillset that Ikeme brought. One forged in the training grounds of the English goalkeeping fires. And he immediately claimed the number one spot.
The same will now be expected of Okonkwo, but he will be welcomed cautiously on that front.
Nigeria has been here before. The same was expected of Uzoho, born in Nigeria but mostly trained abroad at the Aspire Academy; and Okoye, Europe-born and trained.
Both brought promise and the expectation of stability to a position that had resisted it for years. Okoye's own rise particularly, on the back of his European development, was once seen as the long-term answer. It did not pan out, and that goal against Tunisia at AFCON 2021 is not soon forgotten.
Even though he has shown outstanding form at Udinese, his performances for Nigeria have been mixed, a reflection perhaps of the difficulty of translating club form into national team consistency.
For Uzoho, his fundamentals have been questioned from the get-go, and while he has been decent, his displays have been a long way from great. Both failed to match promise with substance.
So the question that follows Okonkwo is whether he can prove it where it matters. It is in those areas where the current competition have fallen short that Okonkwo looks a more well-rounded prospect.
His fundamentals are sound and his numbers suggest promise. Across three seasons, he has shown the ability to keep clean sheets and handle high shot volumes, even as his metrics adjusted with each step up in competition.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. While it would be easy to present Okonkwo as the solution to Nigeria's goalkeeping problem, a more accurate framing would be that he adds more competition to the contest and his task is straightforward, if not simple: translate his club performances to the international stage, especially in Africa where the tempo and physicality are brutally unforgiving.
Nigeria's Super Eagles will no doubt benefit from the additional competition and skillset that he brings.
You can watch Arthur Okonkwo and Wrexham in the EFL Championship on ESPN's channels in Africa (DStv 218 and 219), and on Disney+ in South Africa.