Leicester striker Kelechi Iheanacho surely needs to leave the King Power Stadium this summer after his latest snub. Iheanacho had the world at his feet when forcing his way into the first team picture at Manchester City in 2015-16.
He turned out 26 times for the Etihad outfit during that campaign, hitting eight goals, and proved to be a more than adequate option to come off the bench and have an impact.
The Nigeria international added a further four goals to his tally the following season but was sold on to Leicester in the summer of 2017.
Leicester handed over £25million to snap up Iheanacho in the hope that he would eventually replace Jamie Vardy.
But he has struggled to settle at the King Power Stadium under a succession of managers and his future looks bleak if he stays put.
Craig Shakespeare signed Iheanacho but he was out of a job by October 2017 and Claude Puel came in as his successor.
Iheanacho was restricted to just 21 Premier League appearances during his debut campaign, although he only started seven of those, scoring just three times.
Puel was replaced by Rodgers last season but the change in the dugout didn’t boost Iheanacho’s opportunities on the field.
Leicester fans were left underwhelmed by his performances last season, in particular when he spurned a fantastic chance to deny former club Manchester City a win late in the campaign, and he only registered on one occasion.
A lack of gametime at Leicester led Nigeria national team boss Gernot Rohr to omit Iheanacho from their Africa Cup of Nations squad over the summer.
However, after impressing during pre-season, where he scored three times in two games, Rohr has named the striker in his latest squad.
But his berth with the Super Eagles remains at risk after being left out in the cold by Rodgers during the early stages of 2019-20.
Iheanacho failed to get off the bench in Leicester’s opening two games and he was left out of the matchday squad altogether for Saturday’s win at Sheffield United.
It seems odd that Rodgers seemingly doesn’t want to use Iheanacho even though he isn’t exactly overloaded with striking options.
Shinji Okazaki left permanently to join Malaga over the summer while Islam Slimani has signed a season-long loan deal with Monaco.
Ayoze Perez was drafted in from Newcastle but Rodgers hasn’t got many other options to challenge first-choice centre-forward Jamie Vardy.
With the transfer window still open across Europe, now is the time for Iheanacho to demand a move or he risks losing valuable years in his development.
Of course, it’s difficult to accept for a player that looked like he could go on to become a real star when first coming through at City.
But it’s time for Iheanacho to swallow his pride and move away from the Premier League to get his career back on track.
COMMENTS