West Ham United were linked with the Manchester City forward for much of the summer but he is seemingly heading to Leicester City.
According to a report from the Daily Telegraph, Manchester City have insisted on a £50million buyback clause in Kelechi Iheanacho’s Leicester City contract, which raises the question: Were West Ham United right to talk away after all?
The same report suggests the Hammers were interested in the Nigeria international, and there have been contrasting reports as to why Slaven Bilic opted not to pursue a deal for the 20-year-old.
Own Goal Nigeria reported that West Ham were initially reluctant to accept a buyback clause before renewing talks earlier this summer, while All Nigeria Soccer suggested late last month that the Hammers were not prepared to wait for the player’s agency issues to be resolved.
As a result West Ham signed Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic, and at first glance Hammers fans will not care that they missed out on the 20-year-old.
But while the Mexican international is a brilliant signing who should immediately solve Bilic’s goal-scoring problems, the jury is out on the former Stoke City attacker.
West Ham spent an additional £20million (raising to £25million) on the Austrian international, but he is eight years older than Iheanacho and not nearly as deadly in front of goal despite costing the same amount.
The City youngster is a versatile forward who can play behind the front man or on either wing if required, and for the money West Ham may have been wiser biding their time for Iheanacho, especially when you consider the buyback fee is well worth the risk.
A potential double-your-money deal for a young forward guaranteed to score goals seems a no-brainer, especially as there is no guarantee City will ever come back for him and he would surely have remained at the London Stadium for the next few years anyway.
It was not to be, but Hammers fans fearing City were trying to buy Iheanacho back on the cheap have been proved wrong, and time will tell if Arnautovic proves his worth or the youngster outshines him at the King Power Stadium.
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