KELECHI IHEANACHO EMERGES THE FIRST NOMINEE FOR FC9a ANNUAL AWARD

When a football club as rich and powerful as Manchester City has the audacity to sell off or loan out all but one of its first team strikers and pin its hopes on the shoulders of a 19-year old boy, then you have to believe that boy to be something special.
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Such has been the story of Kelechi Iheanacho since he broke into the first team of the Etihad club last season. Since then it's been goals, goals and more goals.

 With barely a full season of top-flight football in his career, the Owerri-bred talent has already managed 11 goals in 33, mostly substitute, league appearances.

Last season saw him score 14 and assist 5 in a total of 35 games in all competitions for City.

Iheanacho counts as one of a few players to have scored 10 Premier League goals before the age of 20.

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This special list includes: Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Nicholas Anelka and Romelu Lukaku.

Iheanacho is the only Nigerian to have scored a hat-trick for a top European club side this year, this coming in the 4-0 FA Cup fourth round defeat of Aston Villa in January this year.

A part of Iheanacho's accomplishments this year is a Manchester derby winner, scored in the month of September at the Theatre of Dreams.

Kelechi is a reliable a striker, not just because he scores goals, but also because he tends to score important goals. He is a striker with a positional sense and maturity that belie his age.

Since his promotion to the senior national team in 2015, Iheanacho has been playing two roles for the team: one as a creator and the other as a scorer. Thus, thanks to him, the Super Eagles play with "12 men". The one person this most reminds us of is Lionel Messi.

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In that short spell of six caps, Iheanacho has scored four goals, including the winners in the last two games against Tanzania and Zambia.

You only need look at the quality of those two goals to understand the unique blood that flows through the veins of "Kelechi".

Two classy goals, and two match winners. He is that one Nigerian player, you feel, has the quality and confidence to go to any team in Europe and still force his way in.

Iheanacho was one of the players nominated for this year's Golden Boy award, the equivalent of the Balon d'Or for Under-21 players.

The award eventually went to Renato Sanches of Portugal and Bayern Munich, but Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi were the only featured Nigerian nominees.

Fully aware of his exploits, FCNaija has picked Iheanacho as one of its five nominees for The Player Of the Year Award.




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