Nigeria’s Manchester City of England youth prodigy, Kelechi Iheanacho, has been described as a rare breed that would take Nigerian football back to reckoning after a 20 years lull caused by the poor development of talented players discovered after the country’s classical outing at the USA 94 World Cup.
Man City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, who described the player as a rare breed revealed that the Nigerian soccer star would feature prominently in his plans for the new season in the English Premier League.
He noted that: “Manchester City will not send him on loan,” adding that, “plan A, B and C is for him to remain with the club next season. Iheanacho is a very important player for us in the future.
It depends on the way he takes this profession, but I think he’s a good talent.” The left-footed player is of course not the fastest of players, but he is blessed with a perfect close control.
Besides being a traditional attacking midfielder, he can also play in a variety of positions in the attack. He has featured severally for the Man City youth team as a winger, a centreforward and as a second striker. Naturally a left-footer, he is quite comfortable with the ball on his right, and scores quite an awful lot of goals for a player who isn’t a natural centre-forward.
He has played nine games in FIFA competitions – the U-17 and U-20 World Cups and has scored six goals in those games an incredible average of 1.5 goals per game in those competitions! The 18 year old is the future of Nigerian football as he has shown beyond any reasonable doubt the kind of special talent he is.
Blessed with an eye for a pass, packs a powerful shot and full of trickery. The 2015/2016 season is expected to be his breakout season and he had the pre-season tour of Australia to prove himself, not just with Manchester City, but also with the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Already the new Super Eagles chief coach, Sunday Oliseh, has said he would give him a chance in the senior national team. His talent has never been in doubt. He was always set for great things and it is only a matter of time before he fulfills that big potential of his.
A product of Manu Garba’s U-17 squad of 2013, he was very instrumental in the Golden Eaglets’ victory at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and it was no surprise he ended up as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
He is believed to be the long term replacement for the legendary Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha in the Eagles’ set-up, but first he has to prove he can be the player everybody believes he would turn out to be.
He was slowed down by injuries which restricted him to playing only five times for the Manchester City youth teams last season, and scored three goals, including a wonderful solo effort against rivals Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup – which was an average of 1.6 goals a game – and he also made two assists.
Iheanacho’s contract with Manchester City stays until the summer of 2016, surprisingly no club has really made serious move to get him since he joined the former English champions.
He was once linked with Portuguese giants, FC Porto, before opting for City and he was almost sent on loan to MLS side, Columbus Crew, but injuries prevented this move that would have given him the opportunity to express himself in one of the developed leagues of the world.
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