Kelechi Iheanacho

Kelechi Promise Iheanacho (Igbo: [ɪ̙ɦeanãtʃɔ̙]; born 3 October 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team. He has made appearances for Manchester City,[4] as well as the Nigeria squad that won the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the Nigeria U-20 team at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[5][6] Iheanacho was called up to the Manchester City senior squad for the 2015–16 season.[7][8]

This article is about the footballer born in 1996. For the footballer born in 1981, see Kelechi Iheanacho (footballer, born 1981).

Kelechi Iheanacho
Iheanacho playing for Manchester City in 2015
Personal information
Full name Kelechi Promise Iheanacho[1]
Date of birth (1996-10-03) 3 October 1996[2]
Place of birth Imo, Nigeria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 14
Youth career
2011–2014 Taye Academy
2014–2015 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Manchester City 46 (12)
2017– Leicester City 82 (10)
National team‡
2013–2015 Nigeria U17 7 (8)
2015–2017 Nigeria U20 2 (0)
2015– Nigeria 29 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:11, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:53, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Iheanacho was born in the state of Imo.[2] As a youth, he represented Taye Academy in Owerri, the capital city of Imo. His performances for Nigeria in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup led to interest from clubs in Europe; teams following his progress included Arsenal,[9] Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto.[10] In December 2012, Iheanacho travelled to England to discuss a move to Manchester City. He signed a pre-contract agreement with the club, stating his intent to formally sign for City on his 18th birthday in October 2014.[11] In the interim, he returned to Nigeria. As the year drew to a close, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) named him the Most Promising Talent of the Year for 2013 at the CAF Awards.[12]

Iheanacho joined Manchester City's Academy on 10 January 2015. Before the 2014–15 season, City visited the United States on a pre-season tour, and although still not formally a City player, he joined up with the squad. He played and scored in the first match of the tour, a 4–1 win against Sporting Kansas City,[13] and scored again against Milan in a 5–1 win.[14] After the conclusion of the tour, Manchester City arranged for Iheanacho to train with the Columbus Crew until mid-October.[15]

Delays in obtaining a work permit meant Iheanacho was unable to play in England until February 2015. He made his debut at under-19 level in a UEFA Youth League match against Schalke 04, but sustained an injury after only 11 minutes.[16] After his recovery, he began to represent Manchester City at both youth and under-21 level in the latter part of the season. He played in the FA Youth Cup final, where he scored, but ended on the losing side after Chelsea claimed a 5–2 aggregate victory.[17] The following week, he scored the only goal as Manchester City beat Porto in the final of the 2014–15 Premier League International Cup.[18]

2015–16 season

In July 2015, Iheanacho was included in City's pre-season tour team in Australia.[19] On the tour, he set up the first goal for Raheem Sterling and scored the second goal in the win against Roma in the 2015 International Champions Cup. He also set up Sterling for the fourth goal in City's 8–1 victory against the Vietnam national team. In City's last preseason game, against VfB Stuttgart, he came on as a substitute, scoring late on in a 4–2 defeat. Due to his impressive pre-season, Iheanacho was promoted to the Manchester City senior squad.[20]

On 10 August 2015, Iheanacho was included in a first-team matchday squad for the first time in a competitive fixture, however he remained an unused substitute in their 3–0 win at West Bromwich Albion in their first game of the Premier League season.[21] Nineteen days later, he made his competitive debut, replacing Raheem Sterling for the final minute of a 2–0 win against Watford at the City of Manchester Stadium.[22] He scored his first competitive goal on 12 September, replacing Wilfried Bony in the final minute in a match away to Crystal Palace and scoring the only goal of the game.[23]

Iheanacho scored his first career hat-trick on 30 January 2016 against Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup, also setting up City's fourth goal, scored by Raheem Sterling.[24] The following month, he was put in City's UEFA Champions League squad at the expense of the injured Samir Nasri.[25] During February, Iheanacho scored against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2–1 home defeat for City.[26]

Iheanacho's next goals came on 23 April 2016, where he scored twice against Stoke City in a 4–0 victory.[27] He followed this up with a Champions League semi-final substitute appearance on 26 April 2016.[28] Five days later, on 1 May 2016, he scored two again, albeit in a 4–2 defeat at the hands of Southampton.[29]

[30] Iheanacho ended the 2015–16 season with eight Premier League goals and had the best goals-per-minute ratio of any player averaging, a goal every 93.9 minutes.[31] In all competitions he finished with a record of 14 goals and 5 assists from 35 appearances, although he only started 11 of these games.[32] His goals total also meant he ended the season as City's third-highest scorer.[33]

2016–17 season

On 10 September 2016, Iheanacho started in the Manchester derby. He recorded an assist and his first goal of the season in a 2–1 win for City.[34] Four days later, Iheanacho came off the bench to score the final goal in City's 4–0 home win in the Champions League, against Borussia Mönchengladbach.[35] This was his first European goal for Manchester City. Three days after the 4–0 win, Iheanacho scored the second goal, also assisting the third, in City's game against Bournemouth.[36] That goal took his tally in the Premier League to 10, allowing him to join an exclusive list of players to have scored 10 Premier League goals before the age of 20. This list includes players such as Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Nicolas Anelka, Michael Owen and Romelu Lukaku.[30][37] In October 2016, Iheanacho was nominated for the FIFA Golden Boy award, which was eventually won by Bayern Munich's midfielder Renato Sanches.[38] Previous winners of the award include teammates Raheem Sterling and Sergio Agüero, and six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.[39]

Iheanacho's next goal would come in the Champions League, against Celtic, in a 1–1 home draw on 6 December 2016.[40] Iheanacho's final goal of the season, and subsequently final goal for City, came against Huddersfield in a 5–1 FA Cup fifth round replay win, in which Iheanacho scored the final goal of the game.[41]

Leicester City

Iheanacho was signed by Premier League club Leicester City on a five-year contract on 3 August 2017,[42] for a reported £25 million fee.[43] He made his debut for the club in a 4–3 defeat to Arsenal on 11 August 2017.[44] He scored his first goal for Leicester in an EFL Cup tie against Leeds United on 24 October 2017.[45] On 16 January 2018, Iheanacho became the first player in English football to be awarded a goal due to VAR, as the referee deemed that the player had been incorrectly ruled offside for his second goal. The goal was Iheanacho's second in a 2–0 win over Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup Third Round replay.[46]

International career
Iheanacho with the Nigeria national football team in 2017

Iheanacho has represented Nigeria at youth levels from under-13 upwards.[47] His first experience of a major international tournament was the 2013 African U-17 Championship in Morocco. For Iheanacho, the highlight was a hat-trick in a win against Botswana. He dedicated his goals to his mother, who died two months before the tournament.[48] Nigeria reached the final of the competition, where they were defeated on penalties by the Ivory Coast.[49]

Iheanacho played a significant role in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he won the Golden Ball award for player of the tournament.[50] Nigeria won the competition, in which Iheanacho scored six times, including once in the final, and provided seven assists.[50][51] In the run-up to the 2014 African Nations Championship, Iheanacho trained with the senior Nigeria squad but was released from the squad in order to travel to England to sign with Manchester City.[52] He was part of the Nigeria squad for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, and featured in two matches.[53]

He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but failed to make the final 18.[54]

Iheanacho made his senior debut as a substitute in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against eSwatini in which Nigeria drew 0–0.[55] His first start for the senior team was on 25 March 2016, a 1–1 draw with Egypt in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.[56]

Iheanacho was selected by Nigeria in friendly games against Mali and Luxembourg in May 2016. He scored in the two games, providing an assist against Luxembourg.[57][58]

His performance in the friendly matches inspired further confidence within football circles in the nation and was invited to make his competitive debut against Egypt in an African Cup of Nations qualifying series where he provided an assist for Oghenekaro Etebo in the home game.[59]

Despite the change made in the coaching personnel in August this year, he distinguished himself again as one of the most important players in the team when he scored two super goals in the two matches against Tanzania in Uyo and Zambia in Ndola.[60]

In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[61]

Personal life

Iheanacho is a devout Christian.[62][63]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 24 January 2021[64]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City 2015–16[65] Premier League 26834224[lower-alpha 1]0—3514
2016–17[66] Premier League 20431204[lower-alpha 1]2—297
Total 4612654282—6421
Leicester City 2017–18[67] Premier League 2135421——288
2018–19[68] Premier League 3011041——352
2019–20[69] Premier League 2052144——2610
2020–21[70] Premier League 10010106[lower-alpha 2]3—183
Total 8199511663—10723
Career total 1272115101581450017144
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 17 November 2020[71]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 201510
201664
201774
2018110
202041
Total299

International goals
As of match played 13 October 2020. Nigeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Iheanacho goal.[72]
International goals by date, venue, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 27 May 2016Stade Robert Diochon, Rouen, France Mali1–01–0Friendly
2 31 May 2016Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Luxembourg2–03–1
3 3 September 2016Akwa Ibom Stadium, Uyo, Nigeria Tanzania1–01–02017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
4 9 October 2016Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia Zambia2–02–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 23 March 2017The Hive Stadium, London, England Senegal1–11–1Friendly
6 1 June 2017Stade Municipal de Saint Leu La Foret, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, France Togo3–03–0
7 1 September 2017Akwa Ibom Stadium, Uyo, Nigeria Cameroon4–04–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 14 November 2017Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia Argentina1–24–2Friendly
9 13 October 2020Jacques Lemans Arena, Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria Tunisia1–01–1

Honours

Manchester City

Nigeria U17

Individual

References
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