Kelechi Iheanacho can revive Leicester’s attack and become Nigeria’s star ahead of the World Cup

When Kelechi Iheanacho arrived in the nick of time to score on his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace in September 2015, he was a virtual unknown, yet he seemed almost fully made for the biggest stage. The question wasn’t if he could cut it at the highest level, but how far he could go.

Manchester City, famed for spending big and derided in certain quarters for not bringing through enough youngsters, was on the verge of reaping the rewards of their investment in the Nigerian youngster. The arrival of Pep Guardiola last summer was supposed to be a blissful union: a manager readily associated with fine-tuning the raw edges of talented youngsters teaming up with an impressionable player with room to improve.

For a variety of reasons, things didn’t pan out as expected, and instead of preparing for his third season in the City first team, Iheanacho has completed a £25m move to Leicester and been handed a fresh start. It’s a step down, undoubtedly, but City’s loss could be Leicester’s gain if the 20-year-old delivers on the promise that persuaded his erstwhile employers to bring him into their academy after a breakthrough performance at the 2013 U-17 World Cup.

Iheanacho’s best work as a City player came inside the box, where his alertness and eye for goal meant he was usually the quickest to react to a loose ball or pass in the area. The problem, as he and Sergio Aguero to a lesser extent found out, was Guardiola wanted a striker who offered more to general team play. His skills may be ill-suited to the Spaniard’s sophisticated approach to the game, but at Leicester, Iheanacho should find a home for his abilities. As the Foxes showed in their surprising title winning season, a straightforward and relatively simple style of play can also be mightily effective with the right players.

And indeed Iheanacho should fit right in with the Foxes. The statistics paint a picture of a player who’s a natural at what he does: finding the back of the net despite limited opportunities. In 63 appearances for City, Iheanacho scored 21 times in only 19 starts, with only one goal coming from the penalty spot. In the 2015-16 season, he scored eight league goals from 12 shots on target (nine off target).

With opportunities even fewer and far between last term, he scored four times from seven shots on target (four off target). That represents a conversion rate of 57 percent and 64 percent respectively, and while the obvious retort is to suggest his small sample size may skew results in his favor, it’s pertinent to note Leicester ranked 17th last season with 43.7 percent average possession: less than relegated Hull (46.7 percent) and needs a player who does so much with so little.

The obvious question is where exactly he fits in Leicester’s plans. Leicester are an open book, set up solidly in an old-fashioned 4-4-2. While this may play to the caricature of the British manager, devoid of sophistication and tactical flexibility, the truth is that Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare’s methods worked a treat last season as the former champions staved off the threat of relegation in the second half of the season following Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal. Why topple the apple cart when the system works just fine?

Jamie Vardy has been paired with Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa and Islam Slimani over the past couple of seasons, to varying degrees of success. Iheanacho should be a more capable partner for Vardy than any of those three; he’s clearly a better finisher than all of them.

But perhaps more important to Leicester will be his creativity and ability to pick a pass. During his emergence under Manuel Pellegrini’s tutelage at City, it seemed Iheanacho was stripped of his other attacking qualities in his pursuit of becoming the ultimate penalty box striker; a fresh start at the King Power will provide him the opportunity to be as creative as he was during his years as a Nigeria junior international, particularly during the aforementioned U-17 World Cup where he laid on seven assists for his teammates.

With the World Cup next summer, the Nigeria national team could also stand to benefit from Iheanacho’s move to the Midlands. Nigerian football is easily associated with the sometimes-dysfunctional Nigeria Football Federation and how the team thrives in spite of those running its affairs. Yet there’s a sense this time Nigeria could be building something — if not special just yet, but surely good enough — especially after the disappointment of missing out on the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Leading the charge in Nigeria’s increasingly young team is an attack featuring Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi, Chelsea’s Victor Moses and Iheanacho; on paper, it is Africa’s most potent forward line. Beyond those three, Nigeria is short on attacking qualities, with the alternatives either not ready for the competitiveness of international football or simply not good enough. Manager Gernot Rohr will surely be delighted to have his best player and Nigeria’s brightest star playing regular football at what is arguably the pinnacle of club football.

Rohr’s side currently sit atop their World Cup qualifying group with two wins from as many games in a tough group also containing the reigning African champions Cameroon, the highly rated Algeria, and 2012 AFCON champions Zambia. With a doubleheader against Cameroon and a trip to Algeria still to come, Iheanacho’s move couldn’t be any more important for the Super Eagles.

It’s easy to descend into long, wistful discussions about how the big clubs continually fail their young players, preferring instead to splurge on the Next Best Thing available on the market. Yet the important thing here is that a fine young player will have the chance to reach into the outer edges of his talents, recalibrate his approach to the game, and become a better all-round player who makes use of the full range of his attacking qualities, as opposed to becoming pigeonholed as a penalty area poacher when he could easily be much more.

And everybody wins. Leicester now have a battle-ready, Premier League-proven player with no need for an extended settling-in period for a reasonable fee in today’s market. City get a decent fee for a player plucked out of obscurity in his home country for next to nothing a few years ago, and reportedly inserted a buy-back clause into the deal in case Iheanacho becomes truly world class. Nigerians will also watch with keen interest, safe in the knowledge their crown jewel now has a home to fine-tune his talents in a crucial year of international football.

At 20, Iheanacho still has his best years ahead of him, and Leicester is set to benefit from convincing a talented youngster to bring his skills to their club. This could turn out to be that rarest of things: a transfer that works for all parties involved.