Kelechi Iheanacho is Nigeria’s star of the moment as his exploits for both club and country has made him the highest paid Nigerian player.
The Manchester City attacker was the talking point in Super Eagles 1-0 win over Tanzania in their last group AFCON qualifying game played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was recently revealed that the 19-year-old’s £85,000 per week at the Etihad rates him as the highest paid Nigerian player ahead of captain John Mikel Obi who earns £80,000 weekly in Chelsea.
Here are the five reasons Iheanacho deserves to be the highest paid Nigerian footballer
1. Consistency: Iheanacho has repeatedly proven to those who have doubted his scoring abilities that he is not a mere fluke when it comes to making headlines for scoring goals.
The Imo state born striker scored 14 goals in all competitions last season for Manchester City and have also been making assists under Pep Guardiola’s leadership.
2. Development: From the U-17’s to the U-20’s and now the senior national team Iheanacho has no doubt become a model for investing into the youth system for the future Super Eagles.
After winning the Golden Ball in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013, he was invited to the Super Eagles team led by late Stephen Keshi but was released to sign for Premier League giants Manchester City.
Iheanacho was also shortlisted in the 35-man provisional squad by Samson Siasia to the Rio Olympics but he was not released by his club because of his importance to City as a player.
3. Delivers the goals: One thing that makes a player stand out from ther rest is scoring important goals that lifts his team just as Iheanacho did against Tanzania last weekend in Uyo.
Not only that, Kelechi has also scored in the friendlies against Luxemburg and Mali making it three goals out of five senior appearances for the Super Eagles.
4. A world class player in the making: If a Nigerian will become a future Ballon D’Or, it will definitely be Kelechi because of what he does with the ball at his age.
The Citizens striker possess high technical ability coupled with sublime skills and has got what can take him to the level of the Ronaldo’s and Messi’s.
5. Age: If Iheanacho has achieved so much at 19 then he will be one of the biggest name in football in next 10 years of his playing career as much would have been garnered by the youngster.
Just as Mikel did, Kelechi is the future Super Eagles captain and would also be an integral member of the national teams’ success in years to come.
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