Going by the philosophy of the legendary Diego Maradona, who once said; “Football, like life, is filled with ups and downs, and the most important thing is to keep moving forward and never give up.”
The once beautiful and promising career of Kelechi Iheanacho, the Nigerian Super Eagles’ prolific striker seems to be plummeting.
Since Iheanacho left Leicester City to Sevilla, his football career has known no progress, leaving his fans to wonder if the ‘Senior Man’ is down and out of the round leather game reckonings.
His adventure in Spain has been less than pleasant, with the overall agreement of many football pundits is that it has been a failed transfer.
The 28-year-old has struggled to make any real impact since joining the Rojiblancos side, failing to score a single goal in nine La Liga games.
Despite scoring three goals in two Copa Del Rey appearances, it appears his time with Sevilla is about to be cut short.
Garcia Pimienta, the Sevilla manager recently opened up on the future of the Nigerian striker demonstrating doubts over his continued stay in the club till June.
“I don’t know if Kelechi will stay until the end of the season. Offers have come in for him. He’s well-established in England and surely wants more playing time.
“I understand he wants to leave, but if I consider he needs to play, he will play. For some reason, Iheanacho hasn’t performed here at the level we all expect, including himself.
Read also: Sevilla ready to offload struggling Iheanacho in January
With his CV, some things just don’t make sense. Watching him train, you’d say, ‘This guy has more than enough quality,” Pimienta said.
It is reported that Iheanacho has a strong interest from Leeds United, a Championship club.
At the national team level, it was also obvious that Iheanacho’s games has dropped. Under Austin Eguavoen, the interim Super Eagles coach, the Sevilla forward was under fire for his under-par performances for the national team.
Iheanacho was substituted at halftime in Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin.
However, he was quick to explain his predicaments when he disclosed that his playing position in the Super Eagles is part of the reason he has struggled in the national team set-up.
Nigerian football lovers believe that their once-adored creative striker has lost his form, hence, he was reduced to the bench player as his underwhelming performances for the Nigerian senior team continued.
Iheanacho’s football career started at Taye Academy in Owerri and continued at Manchester City and Leicester City before moving to Sevilla.
He played for Taye Academy from 2011–2014. His brilliant performances in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup where he won the MVP caught the attention of many European clubs.
Iheanacho started his professional football outside the shores of Nigeria with Manchester City, where he signed a pre-contract and joined the club’s youth academy in 2014–2015.
He began his senior career for Manchester City in 2015, scoring 21 goals in 64 appearances. Later on, he was shipped out by Pep Guardiola to Leicester City in 2017 for €27.70 million.
Some of the honours and trophies won by Iheanacho include FIFA Under-17 World Cup champion with Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, English League Cup winner in 2016 with Manchester City, English FA Cup in 2021 with Leicester City, and English Super Cup winner in 2022 with Leicester City, among other awards.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
