Iheanacho’s Move to Manchester City; Good Or Bad?

There are indications that Manchester City is tying up a work permit for Nigerian wonderkid Kelechi Iheanacho. The 17-year-old is set to join the Blues after starring in the Under-17 World Cup last summer, but it has proved to be a complex deal, according to pundits. City backroom duo Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain have used their contacts in Barcelona to take him to Spain for training before he comes to England to start work with Manuel Pellegrini’s men. Iheanacho won the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player as his homeland, Nigeria won the U-17 finals in the UAE this summer. He scored six goals in seven matches, including one in Nigeria’s victory over Mexico in the final and four goals in a single match against the same opposition in the group phase. He also provided seven assists in the tournament. No doubt, his abilities hold some questions at this point, but the big question is: is it wise for a young player of 17 years who has never tasted professional football even in Nigeria to sign for a star-studded squad like City which possesses quite a number of world class midfielders in their ranks. My take is that a club like Porto won’t be a bad place to start his career, given that he can easily get a regular spot which would raise his stock, then eventually move as a professional to ‘Big spending’ clubs like City. If we take a look at past African prospects who eventually became superstars, many started from a more modest club side. Samuel Eto started with Real Mallorca in Spain, Mikel Obi started from Lyn Oslo in Norway and Kanu Nwankwo started from Ajax FC in Holland among other great African stars. It will be prudent of the young lad to know that entering a club like City as a superstar will give him more respect and guarantee more playing time than as a young prospect. After all, what are the odds that he will eventually break into City’s squad? Now my guess is 90/1.

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This article was first published on 9th January 2014

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