Kelechi Iheanacho’s fortunes at Leicester City is not likely to change for good anytime soon with the attacker emerging as the club’s fifth worst performer of the 2018/19 season, Completesports.com reports.
According to top football website, whoscored.com, the 22-year-old is rated 21st out of 25 players currently starring for the former Premier League champions.
Iheanacho has a very low rating of 6.23, having so far had an abysmal campaign for the Foxes which has seen him score just once in 27 EPL matches this term.
The former Nigeria youth international has scored only four goals in 48 EPL appearances since joining Leicester while losing his place in the Super Eagles’ squad.
In contrast, Iheanacho’s compatriot, Wilfred Ndidi has been having a rollercoaster season for the Foxes which has seen him emerge as the best Premier League tackler with six more games remaining.
WhoScored which rated Ndidi 7.24 had this to say about the midfielder: “A consistent performer, Wilfred Ndidi has been a critical component in the heart of City’s midfield again this season.
“He’s played in all 33 of City’s Premier League games so far and he has seldom allowed his level of performance to drop and he has completed more tackles than any other player with 123.
“Ndidi also has the most interceptions with 68 in total and the most aerial battles won with 124.”
By Oluyemi Ogunseyin
26 Comments
Pls guys, this is the time to stand behind this kid having at the back of our minds that if he gets back in form, it will definitely be to our own benefit. Pls, we need a more positive news about this guy not this discouraging and career breaking piece of sh….. T. Iheanocho doesn’t need to be reading this kinda news on our tabloids.
Luking at kele we never he plays shows he doesn’t pay attention to personal development just as he plays during his eaglet days he still plays sch boy football.your kele should grow up.lukakau grew up,suares grew up,even Son of Tottenham grew up.
Ndidi surely wont remain at LCFC for long anymore. As for Kele….we’ll keep him in out prayers….but he needs to help himself…”leave his comfort zone and GET THE HELL OUT OF ENGLAND..”
I agree with u, he needs to get the hell out of England. Don’t know why Nigerian players(with exception of just a few)don’t perform well in the English premiership.
l can only wish Iheanacho the best of luck he may wish for himself in the future. l pray they don’t offload him in the summer. He needs a fatherly mentor for guardiancy and may even seek consultation with Ighalo, of how he made his come-back from the dead. Even Musa, the Nigeria team Captain, may help him as well.
Iheanacho is just too young to leave England now as suggested by his fans. To go to China at (22) is like sending Iheanacho to obscurity.
” What you are looking for in Sokoto, is in your sokoto”. Yes o, he can find his mojo back right there in England and within and not without.
So sad. He was such a great potential.
What happened to you, Iheanacho? Hope you bounce back soon.
While mourning the set back of Iheanacho, it will be unfair not to acknowledge the exploits of Ndidi. What a great ambassador he has become for our nation!
Quoting Dr Drey – KELE NEEDS TO RUN LIKE HELL OUT OF ENGLAND. For real. If he remains at Leicester, the English will never allow him to bench Vardy. Look at the small boys they are starting ahead of Iheanacho – the English are determined to promote their local talents over and above foreign talents. I’m not saying the English boys are not good – the issue is they are been given preferential treatment, to the detriment of foreigners. This is the same problem Willian and Pedro are now likely to face at Chelsea. Thanks to English Media hype, Hudson Odoi has overtaken them on the pecking order! He is now starting Chelsea games. I just dey laugh…Check anywhere in the premiership. If a young English boy is in the team, the English will be moving behind the scenes to ensure he starts games. Only in England will a player like Kovacic be benched by boys like Barkley and Loftus Cheek. Look at Phil Foden at Man City. Pep has been under tremendous pressure to start the boy, even though on merit, he has no business being even on the bench! If Iheanacho remains at Leicester, or moves to another premiership club, he will continue to face the same problem. Unless he can elevate his game so much that he becomes UNBENCHABLE, like Hazard for example.
There are good clubs outside England that will offer him a competitive wage, regular football and opportunity to develop and grow. That is what he should be looking for now.
Very true. Only brainwashed mumus who will continue to be colonised over n over again by the English will not get this very valid point. They even tried n are still trying to destroy Iwobi’s talent because he chose Nigeria ahead of England n foolish Nigerians will join in killing their own. How on earth people come to England to learn how to manage or coach a football team is beat my imagination, in d process getting awarded some silly paper they call certificate, when the same England has never won anything. People should open their eyes,the English are creating another avenue of ripping the world through football.
“meant still beats my imagination lol”
It’s baffling reading people blaming the English for Kelechi’s slump rather than himself.
Life is like a journey,the way you ride,tells how you get to your destination.
Iheanacho started well,but has missed the road at some part,and he has nobody to blame but himself..
His non challant attitude towards the game as come to bear; no matter how long you hide behind the photo,your character would show the true picture..
We must understand that Kelechi problem goes beyond his club side but also with the national team, when was the last time he had a good outing in the super eagles?
His depreciation started right in front of our eyes.fron starting matches and scoring,to starting and doing nothing,to coming off the bench,and now not even coming on..and that’s in the super eagles..
You can’t say he was been biased against,since everyone in the Super Eagles are Nigerians..they are just better players than him at the moment,so he must step aside..
And for his club side,he was bought for a good fee,that means he was rated highly.
He was actually a starter when he came,playing alongside Vardy.
Sometimes he was played behind.he didn’t take his opportunity. Sometimes he was played ahead. He didn’t take his opportunity.
Good players take their chance whenever the chance arises,cause life is all about time and chance.we can’t say Iheanacho wasn’t given any In Leicester.
Simply put,the problem with Kelechi is Iheanacho..
He needs to get his act right.He can leave Leicester ( where to is up to him); or he stays there, but more importantly,he needs to focus,work harder and build back his mojo,only him can do that.
He has age on his side but he should know,time waits for no one, so he must move fast.
He has the potential,so he must develop them.
He has the person,he just need to develop his charisma.
The cake is right there,and Kelechi has the knife,it is up to him to take his slice.
As for us fans, we can only hope he does…
@Mr Hush, no one is accusing England, definitely not me, but we are trying to make Nigerians aware of somethings, so we can all start to support, develop n sing to high heaven our own, using every available platform. This d English are doing n u can’t fault them. They even get others to destroy their own just to lift high d English. Now we can see how they are getting the world to dance their way through different programs like strictly come dancing on TV which is televised around the world n how they are getting the world to embrace their food through programs like master chef. Winners are all glamourized as best in the world. I sincerely would not blame them but blame all selling such programs to Nigerian viewers. Trust me sooner or later before our Nigerian or other African musicians n chef get a job, they will have to come here to get some stupid London university certificate otherwise they won’t be allowed to perform. I may have digress from Kele but only had to, just to expose some hidden colonisation still going on. For Kele, he is always a great talent, only need to work on his first touch, get more fierce n tenacious. He should put his sleeves up, get angry n tell himself, time to play football.
As I said before, till he get’s his passport, the guy is not going anywhere..lol. Remaining 1 or 2 more years.
Some might argue that – why then is Ndidi doing so well at Leicester? Let’s hope a young English boy doesn’t come in to compete with him in his position! E go dey like film – Ndidi will eventually find himself playing second fiddle. The only two ways out of this ENGLISH PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT wahala is to be so good, they can’t afford to bench you. Or, you can leave England.
Pompei you are very wrong because if I remember clearly Ndidi still kept his place while Danny Drinkwater was there infact. Ndidi walked into Leicester CIty’s first team right from the onset, in fact it was Ndidi’s arrival that gave Leicester confidence to eventually let Chelsea have Danny Drinkwater even afeter they let Kante go the season before. get your facts straight brother.
Pompei And that’s what Wilfred Ndidi is too good to bench sir. I am so surprised as it is happenening you still can’t see it.. Kelechi is not focused enough Gernot Rohr said it clearly and I agree with him 100%. Kelechi doesn’t train hard enough instead he is too busy joking up and down in training and in camp instead of focusing and spending extra time after training to work on area’s where he is lacking he is posting pictures up and down on instagram of the wealth he is amassing, like he is the only footballer on earth. Kelechi Iheanacho is an Imo State boy like me but, I am really angry with him he needs to get his head back in the game because, what he is experiencing now he brought upon himself. The difference between great players and average players is Great players work hard, Kelechi doesn’t its that simple.
Three points caught my attention on this thread:
1. Iheanacho doesn’t need this discouraging information. I disagree. Whoscored is a world respected source of information based on statistical analysis of player performance. He needs to understand where he is right now and take it as a starting point to rebuilding his performance. After all if one does not know how they are performing against their peers in the same club, how dos one stategise to get back into reckoning. Knock on the managers door and say “play me boss, I can do better than him in the team”?
2. He needs to get the hell out of England: I also disagree. What he needs is a club that fits. A club that knows how to utilize his skill set, how to play him and is ready to develop tactics and formations that play to his strengths. Whether it is lower down in the Premier league like Crystal palace, West Ham or Newcastle. or even in one of the leading clubs in the Championship: Leeds, Sheffield United, Aston Villa or Nottingham Forrest. All massive clubs still. Of course any league in Europe could have a club that fits, be it in the top 5 (England, Spain, Germany, France or Italy) or in the top 15 – Belgium, Portugal, Turkey, etc. In short, its not the location or country that matters, rather it is “a club that fits” that matters.
3. England is discriminating against foreigners and playing lesser local players in their place. First thing, England spends billions developing their league to be the best watched league in the world, it also needs to develop their own players so I would expect that they put their players first as they have spent A LOT of money developing these players. But, the stats do not agree that it is the case that an English player is more likely to be fielded if a foreign player is better. 69% of players in the Premier league are foreign. Sixty Nine percent. Imagine for a second that we are talking about the Nigerian Premier league. And we bench the best player for an inferior Ghanaian or Ivorian player, how would that look? The fact is, if you are good enough or the best in a position, you will play. Football is a results business and whether player or manager, if you don’t produce the goods on the day you are dropped like hot yam either in the hand or in the mouth. Millions of pounds depend on these results, so sentiments don’t count, results do and whether we blame the club or we blame the player, Iheanacho is currently not producing the goods where he is
Bigd, god will bless u bro, much respect, the same english signed him for £24 mil, I guessed success is being discriminated against as well, our boys needs to get serious and be more focused, I’m not saying racism doesn’t exists, but guys common we can’t continue to hide under racism to justify for every short comings of our guys.Young Madison is way better than iheanacho period.Teams spent billions every year, trust me guys this teams wants to win at all cost, they don’t care about skin color.
November 1, 2017. Iheanacho in Leicester was not producing the goods. Two weeks later, on November 14, 2017, Iheanacho and Iwobi were busy tearing up Argentina as we beat them 4-2. Iheanacho scored a fine freekick goal on the day. The same Iheanacho went back to Leicester and continued his “not producing the goods status”. We are all entitled to our opinions. Some people see black, and call it white. And they are not trying to be malicious, or funny. They actually see white. Due to viewing from a different perspective, or for any other reason. In my opinion, there is overwhelming evidence that English players are being given preferential treatment over foreigners. I’m not speaking to the morality of this. I’m only pointing out the obvious. Madison is a talented young Englishman. I doubt very much that he could have replicated Kele’s performance against Argentina if given the opportunity. Why not rotate the squad, so every player has a fair chance? Anyway, like I said, we are all entitled to our opinions.
First of all Kelechi Iheanacho’s biggest problem like I find with what happened to Mikel Obi in his early Chelsea days, is that they did not pull the coach at their aside and say “Sir Please I know you think I am good in this position but infact my strongest position is actually this, hence they stalled their developement in the strongest area of their game. Mikel should have spoken up to Jose Mourinho and said I am a CAM NOT A CDM PLEASE SIR had MIKEL done that man he would have been remembered as a greater than what he is now around the world . KELECHI NEEDS TO PUT HIS FOOT DOWN AND SAY I AM NOT A No. 9 I AM AN ATTACKING MIDFIELDER. OTHERWISE HE IS DOOMED!!!. PERIOD
Kelechi….doomed? Strange choice of words. Even if Kele never plays for the SE again, and his club career is blown to bits, he has still made enough money to be settled for life. And his contributions to Nigerian football remain in the history books. How does that qualify as doomed?
The guy is currently experiencing a slump. I was among the forumites who first discussed it weeks back. Some said he is overwhelmed by his new found wealth. Some said he has lost focus. Some said he is chasing the ladies up and down. All these may be true. However, I believe the preferential treatment being given to his colleagues is also contributing to his downward spiral. Did none of the Leicester technical crew not watch his U-17 clips? Why has someone not said – let’s try Kele on the right wing today? Or let’s try him as a support striker? Because English boys like Madison, Gray and co are occupying those positions. And Vardy is untouchable. Slimani, Okazaki, Ulloa, all could not compete with him….are you kidding me? A friend joked with me recently that if Leicester sign CR7, he will be in the battle of his life collecting the jersey from Vardy, lol! Anyway, let’s hope things work out for Kele eventually.
When I say doomed I think we have t o look at the context of what we are discussing. I mean his football career. He needs to play in his preferred position he is not a Top 9 or No. 9… and thats the thing with us Nigerians everything is about Money. Then let him take his money and leave super eagles for hungry players small mind mentality.. Legenss Like “Pele” and so forth Left money to create a destiny. AND “LOOK AT HIM MAKING MONEY JUST WITH HIS NAME”… that’s why Nigeria is where it is SMALL MIND MENTALITY PEOPLE ONLY THINKING FOR THEIR POCKET AND DEM NO SEND OTHERS!!! WE NEED PEOPLE TO FIGHT FOR THE COUNTRY NOT THEIR POCKET I COULD CARE LESS HOW MUCH MONEY KELECHI HAS AMASSED
Someone here asked a question – when was the last time Kele had a good outing for the SE? This is a truly baffling question. How quickly some people forget! I just talked about Kele’s performance in our 4-2 spanking of Argentina in November 2017. Aside that, Kele scored his fair share of goals during the world cup qualifiers. He has always done well for Nigeria. Someone even said his goal per game ratio is approaching Yekini figures. At a point not too long ago, Kele was our first choice striker….ahead of Ighalo. And rightly so. Yes, he is in a funk, and he needs to improve. It is up to him to do what he needs to do to get his groove back.
The guy is not doomed, and that’s tough choice of words to describe Kele present situation, I think he should seek help from Kanu, Okocha and Mikel, the talent is there he just needs to work harder.By the way much respect to @pompei the way you respectfully responded in getting your points across.We here to learn, to agree and to disagree not to insult or use vulgar words.
When I say doomed I think we have t o look at the context of what we are discussing. I mean his football career. He needs to play in his preferred position he is not a Top 9 or No. 9… and thats the thing with us Nigerians everything is about Money. Then let him take his money and leave super eagles for hungry players. you see Small mind mentality and greed is what is killing Nigeria.. Legends Like “Pele” and so forth Left money to create a destiny. AND “LOOK AT HIM MAKING MONEY JUST WITH HIS NAME”… that’s why Nigeria is where it is SMALL MIND MENTALITY PEOPLE ONLY THINKING FOR THEIR POCKET AND DEM NO SEND OTHERS!!! WE NEED PEOPLE TO FIGHT FOR THE COUNTRY NOT THEIR POCKET I COULD CARE LESS HOW MUCH MONEY KELECHI HAS AMASSED
well, I think kele is the architect of his bad performance. if anything happens to anyone I think d person would be blame for more than 50% of d problem, kele is not d first player to face this kind of problem so he should be ready to fight for shirt. i dont think leaving the club is the best solution cos we all know Leicester is one of the good average club(apart form the best top 6) In England.
And for the favourizm as said by BIG-D (England spends billions developing their league to be the best watched league in the world) so I think they are somehow right for that if na your country shea no be your country player go plenty pass cos u will want them to upgrade their football so that the national team will be strong. Although that is one of the factor affecting him but we can’t blame that cos he is not d only player to have experience this and he should convince his coach by doing well In training, I believe he has d talent to be one of the best forward in d world just put more effort kele. I pray u get back and even pass your previous records. In the other hand I praise Indidi, one of the best defensive midfielder if not the best in d best league In world. See my dear fans u don’t know how happy I am with this Indidi performance, cos I can boast In any part of the world that my country possesses one of the best D-Midfielder cos na wetin I get na him I go boast with(dusting d likes of kante, jourjiho and d lyks since last season if not mistaken and always been the man that makes Leicester hard to beat against the top 6 teams in EPL) I pray Almighty Allah will continue to bless you and lift you high brother Amen. Pls let cherish what we have Nigeria’s even though we never carry Wcup cos not Cherishing what we have is one of the problem that cause our country downturn.