The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Iheanacho

  • MANchester CITY CONTRACT: Iheanacho demands £7.2m yearly

    MANchester CITY CONTRACT: Iheanacho demands £7.2m yearly

    Manchester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, wants reward for a stunning 2015/16 season in the shape of a new deal worth £150,000-a-week.

    This translates to £600,000 monthly and a staggering £7.2 million wages.

    The striker’s advisers believes he has earned parity – at least – with teammate Raheem Sterling, on the basis that Iheanacho’s emergence has saved the Blues from having to spend big on a new young frontman this summer.

    They also feel rising-star Iheanacho has proven himself superior to Wilfried Bony, who has flopped since his £28 million move to the Etihad from Swansea 17 months ago.

    Sterling, who signed from Liverpool for a package totalling £49 million last summer, has netted 11 times in his first season with the Mancunian Blues while Bony, who earns £100,000-a-week plus a £20,000-per-game bonus, has managed only eight goals this season and a total of ten in all competitions since being signed in January last year.

    Iheanacho currently earns £15,000-a-week but the www.mirror.co.uk reports that City will offer him an improved contract but want a wrangle over his representation resolved.

    Many of Iheanacho’s goals have come off the bench, which means he already has one of the best goal-per-minute ratio in Europe.

    City are waiting for the outcome of a complaint over his representation that has been lodged with the FA before they can enter negotiations over a new deal.

    United States-based First Eleven Management has represented Iheanacho since he was a schoolboy and advised him over his move to the Etihad in January 2014.

    The outfit says the youngster signed a new representation agreement when he turned 18, but London-based Stellar Group says it is his new adviser.

    City beat Arsenal to the signing of Iheanacho from Nigeria’s Taye Academy two years ago.

    Now a full Nigeria international, he is set to be a big part of new boss Pep Guardiola’s plans next season.

  • Pellegrini predicts big future for Iheanacho

    Pellegrini predicts big future for Iheanacho

    Outgoing Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has predicted that Nigerian youngster Kelechi Iheanacho will be an important part of the Citizens under his successor Pep Guardiola.

    The 19-year-old was in spectacular form yesterday for the Manuel Pellegrini led side as he excelled in attack playing alongside Sergio Aguero. He scored a brace and forced a penalty as City hammered Stoke City 4-0 at the Etihad to move into third on the premier league log.

    Pellegrini, who will be leaving the Manchester City for Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, said after the game: “A big team must always be focused on both competitions. Premier League and Champions League. Every big team must do it every year.

    “Stoke is fighting for nothing but nobody wants to lose games. It was important to score the first goal.

    “Kelechi Iheanacho is an important young player with a lot of future. He scores lots of goals but he is not just a penalty box player. I am sure that his role in this team will be very important.”

    Also, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart praised the ‘brilliant’ youngster for his performances in his breakthrough season with the club.

    “We’ve got our job done and we look forward to Tuesday now,” Hart said.

    “Kelechi’s been brilliant, he turned up last pre-season somewhat unknown it’s fair to say and he has really worked hard and got stuck in. The manager has had a lot of faith in him. He shows what a good squad we have got now.

    “Since the international break we have done well. We just need to keep that going until the end of the season.”

    An absolutely delighted Kelechi Iheanacho thanked the fans for their support and pledged to continue to improve.

    “I am very pleased and happy to score goals today. I thank my team mates, the manager and the fans. I am improving a lot but I need to work even harder to show my qualities.”

  • Man City 4 – 0 Stoke: Iheanacho scores brace

    Man City 4 – 0 Stoke: Iheanacho scores brace

    •Eagles’ star is man of the match
    •Wins penalty for his team

    Manchester City fans picked Nigeria international, Kelechi Iheanacho as man of the match after he scored a brace and won a penalty in a 4-0 drubbing of Stoke City yesterday.

    Iheanacho, 19, got his first goal of the day in the 64th minute when he calmly swept home a cross from the right by Pablo Zabaleta.

    He doubled his tally 10 minutes courtesy of an assist by Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony.

    The youngster was brought down by Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross on his way to goal for the penalty in the 43rd minute, which Sergio Aguero tucked away.

    Earlier on, Fernando had opened the goal feast for the day as early as the 35th minute after enjoying an assist from Jesus Navas. Eight minutes later Sergio Aguero converted a penalty won by Iheanacho to increase the tally.

    Iheanacho who joined Man City early 2014 has so far scored 11 goals for the side comprising five premier league goals and four FA Cup goals and two league Cup goals.

  • UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Iheanacho: Man City will fight to the end

    UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Iheanacho: Man City will fight to the end

    Super Eagles youngster Kelechi Iheanacho has said that Manchester City will fight to the end to ensure that they secure Champions League semi-final at the expense of French side, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

    Goals by Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho handed Manchester City a 2-2 first-leg draw in Paris on Wednesday to give the English side the edge in their Champions League quarter-final tie.

    With two away goals, Iheanacho who was an unused substitute believes that playing in the last eight for the first time in their history, Manchester City hold the upper hand ahead of the second leg.

    “We will fight to the end”, the 19-year-old posted on his official Instagram page immediately after the game.

    Iheanacho will be hoping to make his second Champions league appearance against PSG in the return leg after making his debut against Dynamo Kiev in February.

    Iheanacho has nine goals in all competitions so far this term for Man City. He scored his first goal against Crystal Palace in September 2015 and then scored a hat-trick against Aston Villa in the highly competitive FA Cup for his team, Manchester City.

  • How Peterside can succeed as NIMASA chief, by ex-minister Iheanacho

    How Peterside can succeed as NIMASA chief, by ex-minister Iheanacho

    • Indigenous ship Owners promise to support agency’s new head

    Former Minister of Interior Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho has advised the newly-appointed Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, to court indigenous ship owners.

    Iheanacho, who is the Chairman, Genesis Shipping Worldwide, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    He added that indigenous ship owners would support Peterside.

    Ihenacho said: “It is our hope that he would concentrate his efforts in a genuine attempt to grow indigenous capacity through a judicious use of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).”

    The mariner said the new director-general must make Cabotage provisions work.

    Iheanacho explained that Peterside would need to understand the difference and the distinction between the administrative responsibilities for the safety of shipping and security of the maritime environment.

    The mariner said: “Safety of shipping and its associated costs is a NIMASA function while the security of the marine environment is the responsibility of the Navy.”

    He said NIMASA should be refocused to carry out its core maritime industrial safety and local capacity development responsibilities,

    “while simultaneously demilitarising the outlook and presentation of the agency”

    “We welcome Mr Peterside as the director-general of NIMASA. He is a good man. We hope his appointment would mark the beginning of a positive change in the focus and administrative interventions of the agency(NIMASA),’’ Iheanacho told NAN.

  • Iheanacho eyes first trophy against Liverpool

    Iheanacho eyes first trophy against Liverpool

    …As  Kolo vows to stop Yaya Toure

    NIGERIA youngster Kelechi Iheanacho is confident his team Manchester City will capture its first silverware when they clash with Liverpool in the League Cup final on Sunday.

    It will also be his first silverware too after gaining first team shirt.  Iheanacho has progressed rapidly as a youth prodigy after being named in the Manchester City first team at the start of the season and has made the best of the opportunity by posting good performances whenever he gets the chance to don the sky-blue jersey of the Citizens.

    Last Wednesday, he made his debut game in the UEFA Champions League coming on for Sergio Aguero in a Round of 16 tie against host team Dynamo Kiev which the Citizens won 3-1.

    Meanwhile, Kolo Toure will not let brotherly love get the better of him when Liverpool take on Yaya Toure’s Manchester City in the League Cup final on Sunday.

    Kolo said he would do whatever he had to do to stop Yaya from scoring should he have a chance in the match. [I would] take him out, big time,” Kolo told BBC.

    “Because I want to win, that’s it. I think he knows me. He knows that if he’s going to score a goal, anything I can do to stop him, I will and he knows that.”

  • Oliseh considers Iheanacho for Egypt tie

    Oliseh considers Iheanacho for Egypt tie

    Kelechi Iheanacho could feature in Nigeria’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games against Egypt in March, supersport.com can report.

    Nigeria head coach, Sunday Oliseh, explained that he is considering the Manchester City striker on the strength of his recent performances for his club.

    The Super Eagles gaffer is also weighing the option of making the trip to Manchester to have a face-to-face talk with the 19-year-old.

    However, Oliseh, 41, is yet to make his squad for the Afcon qualifying games against Egypt public but stated that he knows players he wants to call up for the double-header in March.

    “I have not sent out my list of invited players yet. But with the kind of goal he came on to score (for Manchester City against Tottenham) recently I am looking very much at him. In fact I hope to move up to Manchester, but I am just waiting on some little things to be sorted out then we will have that done,” Oliseh said.

    Iheanacho has scored nine goals, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, for Manchester City this season.

  • PELLEGRINI’S QUEST FOR NIGERIAN: Man City stop Iheanacho

    PELLEGRINI’S QUEST FOR NIGERIAN: Man City stop Iheanacho

    • To give ex-Eaglet improved contract

    Manchester City would now hand Kelechi Iheanacho an improved contract after news emerged that outgoing boss Manuel Pellegrini wants to take the young Nigeria striker with him when he departs the Etihad Stadium this summer.

    The Citizens, who had been comfortable about Iheanacho being forced to wait on an improved contract, according to SiaS sources, however, have no intention of letting the starlet leave and are confident they can quickly agree a vastly-improved five-year deal with the player.

    The 19-year-old has three years remaining on his present £20,000 a week deal, but is currently in the middle of an ongoing dispute between two rival agencies who are both claiming to represent him.

    Iheanacho has scored eight goals in 19 matches this season and recently scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 FA Cup victory at Aston Villa.

    Sources said Pellegrini is expected to snub an offer to return as Chile national team coach in favour of managing a Premier League side and has been linked with the Chelsea and Manchester United jobs.

    The South American took a gamble when he promoted Kelechi Iheanacho to City’s first team just before the start of this season, and the Nigerian has repaid his faith by netting eight goals from 19 matches across all competitions.

  • Iheanacho to follow Pellegrini to Chelsea, Manchester United

    Iheanacho to follow Pellegrini to Chelsea, Manchester United

    All nigeriasoccer.com understands that outgoing Manchester City coach, Manuel Pellegrini will attempt to take Kelechi Iheanacho to any club he’s heading to in the not too distant future.

    The former Real Madrid and Villarreal manager will end his association with The Citizens in the summer, with Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola set to succeed him.

     Pellegrini is expected to snub an offer to return as Chile national team coach in favour of managing a Premier League side and has been linked with the Chelsea and Manchester United jobs.

    The South American took a gamble when he promoted Kelechi Iheanacho to City’s first team just before the start of this season, and the Nigerian has repaid his faith by netting eight goals from 19 matches across all competitions.

    Iheanacho is tied to Manchester City until the summer of 2019, having penned a professional contract early last year.

    He was on the radar of West Ham, Sunderland and Bournemouth in the January transfer window but Pellegrini was not willing to listen to offers from the three teams.

  • Iheanacho boasts: I will score more goals

    Iheanacho boasts: I will score more goals

    Nigeria teen sensation, Kelechi Iheanacho has boasted that there is more to come from him following his hat-trick against Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

    The 19-year-old was voted man-of-the-match after scoring a hat-trick and assitsing Raheem Sterling for the fourth goal as the Citizens demolished their host 4-0.

    The former Under-17 star, who broke into Manchester City’s first team this season, took advantage of the absence of key regulars, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, and Yaya Toure.

    His calmness in front of goal would have gladened even the hearts of national team bosses who will be monitoring from Africa as he destroys defences in England.

    “I am so happy to score today,” Iheanacho told Skysports. “It is my first hat-trick and I am hopeful of more to come. I took my time to score the third goal.

    “I waited for the goalkeeper to see where he went. It is a great feeling when the fans chant my name and I am grateful they came to support us.”

    Iheanacho will hope to make the starting line-up again on Tuesday when Manchester City travel to face relegation threatened Sunderland in a premier league fixture.