Manchester City has been blessed with a number of talented strikers in the last decade but most have been big money signings from other elite European teams. Kelechi Iheanacho is one of the first youngsters to break through from the academy and spend some time away on loan before returning and making an impact.
Style of play
The 20-year-old striker has the best goals to minutes ratio over the last 50 games of Premier League football and has found the back of the net six times in 10 games for Nigeria. Despite not playing a whole load of games, in 2016 he was nominated for the Golden Boy award, which has been won in the past by players like Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.
He’s been hailed by Jay-Jay Okocha as the next Nwankwo Kanu, so let’s take a look at why Iheanacho may well surpass the ex-Arsenal striker.At nearly 6’ 2”, some would assume that Iheanacho is a physical presence and an aerial threat but most of his goals have been scored inside the box, with his feet. He’s the type of striker that we have seen less and less of in recent times; a natural born goal scorer, a fox in the box!
The Nigerian has an excellent appetite for making late runs into the box or picking up on blocked shots with the obsessive target being to score a goal. In simple terms, if Iheanacho is in the box and the ball is bouncing around, there’s a strong chance he’s going to pounce on it and finish it off. The problem for the Manchester City striker has been the likes of Aguero and now Gabriel Jesus being in the squad, making him the third-choice striker at the club.
It’s a tough ask to overtake the club’s greatest striker and Brazil’s most dangerous young forward; the Nigeria man hasn’t got much of a chance to play first team football at the Etihad stadium. However one thing the youngster has improved on since the arrival of Pep Guardiola is his link-up play, which managers are increasingly demanding of their strikers. Guardiola likes a forward who can drop the ball off, run from deep and finish off the move he initially started, which is something Iheanacho has learned.
His hunger to win the ball back for his team has increased and his performance in the 2-1 victory at Old Trafford last season summed him up perfectly. He pressed Manchester United defenders into making errors, scored a tap-in from three yards out and played a pivotal part in the opening goal with two passes contributing to the move.
Who is going to sign him?
Every club outside the top four wants him and it’s no surprise looking at his goal-scoring record. Although Spurs have been gently linked with him, I don’t think they’re actual contenders. I assume it will go down to a battle between Everton, which needs to replace Romelu Lukaku and Leicester City which is looking to find a new big man with Islam Slimani set to leave.
Fun Fact
In 1993 Kanu played a big part in winning the U17s World Cup for Nigeria and exactly 20 years later Iheanacho did the same. Kanu is Iheanacho’s idol.
by Nubaid Haroon YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtMg-fWm7awR41vM1GhVOkA Twitter: twitter.com/rambofyi
The post Football: Who’s Going To Buy Iheanacho appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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