Leicester City manager, Brendan Rodgers has hinted no Leicester City player, including the resurgent Nigeria forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, will leave the King Power Stadium in January next year, Completesports.com reports.
Iheanacho has returned to form under Rodgers, scoring and assisting in Leicester’s 4-1 mauling of Aston Villa in a Premier League match at Villa Park last Sunday.
The Super Eagles attacker had also played a major role in the comeback Premier League victory over Everton, scoring and contributing an assist for the Foxes.
His goals in the Carabao Cup this season take his goal tally to four in as many appearances which is double what he got last season under both Rodgers and Claude Puel.
Also Read: Iheanacho Set For 100th EPL Game As Leicester Host Norwich City
Prior to his return to form, though, there had been speculation that the 23-year-old would be sent out on loan to Turkish Super Lig side, Besiktas come January, 2020.
Rodgers has, however, put such rumour to bed, saying: “There will be nobody leaving in January, categorically. I’m speaking regularly with [director of football] Jon Rudkin and Top [owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha].
“It’s really clear we want to keep this squad together. It’s an exciting team with growth and development, so we want to ensure they stay around beyond January.”
By Oluyemi Ogunseyin
6 Comments
Nacho nwannem dont trust this man think about your future, your agent should push for a loan move to spain or france.
You wish!!!, He will trust rodgers and he will stay in Leicester City and will be their Key player a Star, it is his destiny. @Stan you just need to sit and watch the beautiful story unfold
It is crazy when you think about it: Iheanacho has scored in every game he has played in for Leicester this season.
He netted against Luton and Burton in the Cup, and against Everton and Aston Villa in the Premier league – making it four goals and two assists for the campaign.
For a player who has been written off by many, who has been marginalised for so long, who could only pray for a bit part role to be scoring in the league and cup competition is testament to the mental strength of the young man and the fantastic man management capabilities of his coach.
This man, Brendan Rodgers, is performing miracles with Leicester.
From nowhere, they are second in the league with a once-upon-a-time striker Iheanacho emerging as player to look out for in what is going to be an interesting second half of the season for Champions League chasing Leicester.
When Leicester were climbing up the league, a lingering question stood out like a sour thumb: do they have another credible striker to supplement Jamie Vardy?
Those doubts are now almost quelled with Iheanacho come out of the shadows into the light as a goal scorer of repute.
Continue to watch this space.
Brendan Rodgers the miracle worker. He has indeed done wonders for the team. Regarding Iheanacho, I won’t praise him too much for finally seeing what millions of Nigerians already knew….that all this while, he had a weapon of mass destruction idling away on the bench. How do you explain benching Iheanacho for Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez? James Maddison is a terrific player, but on merit, it would be tough to bench Iheanacho for him also. Iheanacho ahould have played a lot more games this season. We are happy that Rodgers has finally woken up from his slumber, and can now SEE ROAD more clearly.
Saying Iheanacho is not going anywhere is fine, but more is required. Rodgers had better do the right thing and give this boy more playing time. Playing him as a support striker for Vardy, or deploying him on the right wing (where he excelled in his U-17 days), have already yielded great results. Ideally, Iheanacho should be seeing a lot more game time going forward. If he is guaranteed more game time, then that would be fantastic for his development. If not, then Iheanacho should SHINE HIS EYES and keep his options open. The cost of languishing on the bench for a prolonged period will significantly diminish any benefits derived from being in the proximity of Mr. Rodgers.
Very well said bro.
Kelechi Iheanachoooo!!!! Remember the name. We’ve known his capabilities since his U13 days. Brendan Rodgers seems to be the only coach who knows how to use him since he won the Golden ball in UAE 2013. Then he was mostly operating from the right wing dovetailing to the middle and also distributing precise passes to devastating effects. That pass to Vardy for the first goal against Aston Villa was incredible. Operating from the right wing with the chemistry between him and Vardy will be a joy to watch for the rest of the season.
He also play that role well with the aid of a flying wing back to compliment his pace. Ricardo Pereyra is like a decoy for Iheanacho to move inside. I remember at the U17 World Cup he had Musa Mohamed and against Iceland at the Mundial in Russia he had Moses. That to me is the best way to utilize Iheanacho and he will always deliver to devastating effects. #FLY LIKE AN EAGLE INTO THE FUTURE. I will be surprised if he doesn’t make SuperEagles next list.