Kelechi Iheanacho: The boy who once had the world at his feet is becoming Nigeria's talisman (2024)

In just 12 months, Kelechi Iheanacho has gone from a frustrating enigma of a striker — magical and maddening in equal measure, and a player it seemed was destined to never fulfil his true potential — to a man that is now spearheading the challenge of Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.

When he won the Golden Ball at the 2013 Under-17 World Cup and subsequently joined Manchester City, the world was at his feet. CAF (the Confederation of African Football) even named him the Most Promising Talent of the Year on two occasions but the weight of expectation seemed destined to crush his potential and stifle his progression.

As he failed to live up to those expectations, his future at Leicester looked bleak after a number of disappointing displays, leaving many supporters wondering how many more chances he was going to get, while in 2019, he was criticised by then-Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr, who questioned his professionalism and told him he needed to get serious about his career. Patience was running out.

What a difference a year has made. Having started just two of the first 21 Premier League games last season, injuries forced Brendan Rodgers’ hand and Iheanacho was paired with Jamie Vardy in attack. In a twist of fate, he suddenly looked like the player he was meant to be, scoring 12 goals in 10 games during March and April as Vardy became the support act.

He earned himself a new contract and inherited the fans’ anthem “He’s magic, you know…”, a song that previously echoed from the stands for Esteban Cambiasso. Terrace acceptance doesn’t get much bigger than that.

The transformation from a player dismissed by the supporters and even booed at times to a figure that his previous critics insisted could no longer be left on the sidelines was complete.

Back home in Nigeria, he is experiencing a similar metamorphosis from the stuttering junior struggling to live up to the hype that had surrounded his emergence into a player now relishing his “Senior Man” nickname — which he has explained is a moniker given to all Nigerian players who head to Europe but it seems to have particularly stuck with Iheanacho — and spearheading their AFCON challenge.

After scoring a stunning winner against Egypt in their opening group game in Cameroon, it was pointed out to Iheanacho that having not produced the best of performances previously for the national team, he was now taking it to another level — and did that make him feel vindicated?

“I am really a confident player,” he replied. “I know my quality. When I get my chance, I take it but if it doesn’t come, I will keep going as a professional. I will just keep going and giving my best for my country.”

What a finish 🎯

Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho gives the super eagles of Nigeria the lead against Egypt 🦅 pic.twitter.com/N6h6sycCW0

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 11, 2022

Iheanacho has certainly shown perseverance while others did not. Rohr had even questioned his commitment and attitude as he subsequently left him out of Nigeria squads but his former under-17s national coach Manu Garba tells The Athletic he always believed Iheanacho would come good once he overcame personal issues.

“Kelechi is a player I expected to be one of the best in the world, especially after his exploits in the 2013 Under-17 World Cup,” he says. “He was the best player in that tournament.

“I think there are reasons why he struggled after that. The injury he picked up at Manchester (while playing for the under-19s) slowed him down. Secondly, he lost his mother when he was 16 and psychologically, that has always been a big blow. It took him a while to be himself again. His friends surrounded him but some of them didn’t help his career.”

Iheanacho may say that he believes in himself as a player but at times following his move to Leicester in 2017, he seemed to have a crisis of confidence, not helped by sporadic appearances and differing roles in the side. He struggled to find an identity at Leicester.

The public criticism from Rohr didn’t help his confidence issues either, believes Garba, although Iheanacho lamented his departure as Nigeria head coach just before this year’s tournament.

“I wondered why he criticised a player like Kelechi publicly,” Garba said. “If you see a player who is good, you never go public to criticise this player. You call him in one-on-one and ask him what his problems are. You have that one-on-one talk and perhaps work on what the problem is, but privately.”

Another factor that has helped Iheanacho’s transformation has been the realisation that he isn’t the spearhead striker many in England thought he would become. In fact, he is at his best as a second striker.

His impressive displays in the second half of last season, when he overtook Vardy to finish as Leicester’s top scorer, were when he played alongside the Englishman in tandem. At national team level, he is now alongside Taiwo Awoniyi, who he also played with in that famous Nigeria Under-17 team of 2013.

New Nigeria head coach Augustine Eguavoen certainly believes the lone striker role Iheanacho was often employed in at Leicester has hampered him.

“Iheanacho is OK but the only little problem is in Leicester, he is playing a different position,” Eguavoen told Elegbete TV last month. “He comes to Nigeria, he plays in a different position. I think the sooner he settles for one position, I think the better for him.”

Garba has been saying for years that Iheanacho was not a natural No 9 but more of a second striker or No 10. His displays over the past 12 months have proved he was absolutely right.

“When he plays behind the centre-forward, he has precision in his passes and his final balls are wonderful,” says Garba, who first twinned Iheanacho and Awoniyi together nine years ago. “I always wanted him to play behind the main striker. His final ball is very good. As well as providing assists, he can also score from outside the box at times.

“He is a player that when he gets into the box and gets two or three chances, he will always take one of them. In training games, he would always score two or three every game. He will take half-chances, too. He has worked on his first touch because when he got that right, he would be able to score more goals.”

It feels like Iheanacho has been around a long time but he is still just 25 and yet to reach his peak — but he is certainly starting to show his maturity now under Rodgers at Leicester and for his country. For Iheanacho, it feels like clear daylight after a period when he couldn’t see the woods for the trees.

“I think a lot of people wrote me off but I never lost faith in myself,” Iheanacho told BBC Africa at the end of last season. “I was going through a crazy and difficult time when things just didn’t work out for me.

“But I’ve worked extremely hard and also have the manager and other staff at Leicester, and most importantly my brother and friend Wilfred (Ndidi), who stood by me. It’s been a really tough ride but I’m just delighted it’s all come together for me.”

That bond with Ndidi, who was the first to run to him to celebrate his winner against Egypt and who shares a personal box with him at the King Power Stadium for friends and family to support them, has been a vital factor. As has been the patience of Rodgers.

“I think you saw (his potential) when he was a young player in the Under-17 World Cup when he was amazing and everyone spoke so highly of him,” Rodgers says. “He went to Manchester City and it was always going to be difficult with the level of player they had there, but when he did come in, he made an impact.

“Then, of course, he comes to Leicester for a huge fee (£25 million) for a young player. He’s also got one of the best strikers in the league in front of him in Jamie Vardy.

“I think, over the course of the time here, he is a really, really important player for our squad, whether he is starting, playing in a run of games or whether it’s coming off the bench to make an impact.

“I think he knows that I trust him. I believe in him. He’s such a great guy to have around the place. He is very low-maintenance and trains every day. He’s never injured. That’s one thing and that tells you everything about how he looks after himself. You need that little bit of luck as well but he trains every day.

“He’s always ready and as he has shown he can score goals, and you see his goal the other day; it’s just a natural instinct — touch, finish. A brilliant goal.”

Nigeria will be hoping for similar brilliance today against Sudan — a game that could be of extra interest to Leicester fans now that their Premier League clash with Burnley has been postponed because of COVID-19 — and Garba believes this is the tournament when Iheanacho could really come of age for his country.

“We have made a good start,” he says. “If you beat a team like Egypt, who are formidable, it is a great start. The first match is always difficult. We have got that right. To beat a team like Egypt and with a new coach in charge, I think Nigeria will go very far in the tournament.

“Kelechi could be the key player because he can score and provide assists. He is the key player in that team.

“For me, he is yet to reach his potential. There is more to come. He can always get better.”

(Top photo: Daniel Beloumou Olomo/AFP via Getty Images)

Rob has been a journalist for twenty years and for the past ten he has covered Leicester City, including their Premier League title success of 2016.He is the author of 5000-1, The Leicester City Story. Follow Rob on Twitter @RobTannerLCFC