Kelechi Iheanacho’s career has hit the buffers since Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City – but just imagine his impact at West Brom.
When Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City in the summer, Kelechi Iheanacho must have been rubbing his hands with glee.
After all, the Catalan is a renowned nurturer of young talent, credited with spawning the careers of Lionel Messi, Pedro, Gerard Pique and co. Iheanacho, meanwhile, was one of the most promising young strikers in world football having just enjoyed an astoundingly efficient breakthrough campaign under predecessor Manuel Pellegrini.
Therefore, many expected the Nigerian teenager to end 2016/17 as one of the Premier League’s most lethal marksmen. Instead, he’s been linked with a move to West Brom, as reported by The Sun.
The Baggies are in desperate need of a new striker having ended the season without a single player hitting double figures in the Premier League. And manager Tony Pulis insisted after they missed countless chances in a final day defeat to Swansea City that he needed reinforcements ‘at either end’ of the pitch, the Birmingham Mail reports.
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis
And though West Brom will not be short of competition, The Sun linking Everton and West Ham with a £20 million bid, Iheanacho is exactly the kind of addition The Baggies need if they are to close the gap to the coveted top seven and harbour genuine Europa League ambitions.
Klassy Kelechi
After all, West Ham and Southampton have qualified for the continent’s secondary competition in recent seasons so why not Pulis’ hard-to-beat outfit?
Iheanacho, meanwhile, could be that prolific goalscorer needed to turn draws and narrow defeats into dramatic three-point hauls. His strike in the 3-0 Boxing Day battering of Hull City meant he had the best goals-per-minutes ratio of any striker in Premier League history after all.
It’s fair to say Salomon Rondon and Hal Robson-Kanu are quite far down the list.
West Brom would have to obliterate their transfer record to bring Iheanacho to The Hawthorns but there’s no reward without risk.
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