KELACHI Iheanacho’s middle name is Promise, and in the early years of his football career there could have been no moniker more fitting.
Named the tournament’s best player as he helped Nigeria win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013, the striker was soon snapped up by Manchester City. Considered a comparable talent to Marcus Rashford as a teen, fans debated tirelessly over which of the rival Manchester clubs possessed the more gifted attacker.
Iheanacho’s rising star soon plateaued. After scoring eight Premier League goals in a breakout 2015-16 campaign, he managed a total of just 13 across the next four seasons.
Now, though, three and a half years after his £25m move to Leicester City, Iheanacho is showing signs of developing into the player he seemed destined to become.
A stunning 25-yard strike sealed a first-ever professional hat-trick on 14 March, as Leicester tightened their grip on third place with a 5-0 victory over relegation certainties Sheffield United. Deployed alongside Jamie Vardy in attack, the 24-year-old striker produced two tidy finishes before his spectacular third, taking his all-competitions tally for the season to 10, equalling his haul for the entirety of last term.
"To all the mothers in the world for taking care of us, I wish them all happy mothers day."
Kelechi Iheanacho dedicates his hat-trick to all the mothers in the world, what a guy #MothersDay pic.twitter.com/SDeJx0pgl7
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 14, 2021
"Hopefully, I will get more – more goals and more hat-tricks," he said post-match. "I need to concentrate now on the performances.
"That's the most important thing, improving myself in training, and improving in the things I don't do better, so improving in all aspects, in all areas, in training, to improve game by game and hopefully they will keep coming and hopefully we'll get to the top."
The West Ham treble also means that Iheanacho has now scored five goals in his last three league games, and seven in his last eight outings. Displaying the lethal finishing, speed and movement that marked him out as a top teen prospect at City, the 29-cap Nigeria international suddenly appears to be a crucial asset in Leicester’s push for Champions League qualification; his hefty price tag at last fits.
“I’m delighted,” Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said of Iheanacho after the Sheffield United win. “I’ve always said you can see the improvements in him day on day. He trains so hard.
“He works well up there with Jamie, the combination is really good. The two finishes, the first one is a bit closer, but you’ve got to get there, and off his weaker foot it’s a nice cushioned finish. It’s the same with the second one a bit further out. The third one is a wonderful strike. He's clever, he’s dropped into the space we wanted him to, turns and fires in.
“Tactically he had a job to do when he was defending. He did that very well. His overall game was very good.”
Rodgers’ comments allude to a new maturity in Iheanacho’s game, a deeper appreciation of his off-ball tasks. The former Manchester City striker is evidently in peak confidence at present, too. Strikes from distance are not ordinarily his weapon of choice, but the fact he decided to take aim from outside the box to round off his hat-trick against the Blades is evidence of a burgeoning self-belief.
50 – Kelechi Iheanacho has been directly involved in 50 goals in 76 starts across Leicester and Manchester City, scoring 36 and providing 14 assists. Product. pic.twitter.com/QeeK22zwlf
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 14, 2021
The penalty area will remain Iheanacho’s domain, though. Leicester have long been reliant on Vardy in that area of the pitch, and the veteran striker has proven himself capable of carrying such a burden. The emergence of a genuine partner for, and potential alternative to, the former England international will be a welcome option for Rodgers, though.
Iheanacho’s rate of scoring over the last three games would be unsustainable for any player long-term, but there are some encouraging underlying statistics from his recent performances which suggest he can continue to impact games beyond his current hot streak. Having settled into a starting berth at the King Power Stadium of late, Iheanacho is finding quality chances at the highest rate since his Manchester City days, with 2.1 shots from inside the 18-yard box per 90 minutes. And he is creating chances for others as a rate of 1.6 per 90, again his best mark as a Leicester player.
Those early goal-laden outings at the Etihad feel a lifetime ago, and he has made almost twice as many first-team appearances for Leicester as he did for Manchester City. But Kelechi Promise Iheanacho is still only 24 years old, now beginning to deliver.
"I'm delighted, I'm really happy today," he reflected after his hat-trick. "I've been waiting for this day to come.”
