English Premier League television pundits Micah Richards and Danny Murphy were all full of praises for Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho following his goal for Leicester City in their 2-0 win over Fulham.
Iheanacho scored off a James Maddison assist to record his first English Premier League goal of the season. His fourth in all competitions despite not enjoying a regular run of games.
Yesterday in the absence of Jamie Vardy, the Nigeria international rolled back his days at Manchester City where he had his breakthrough with a smart finish which earned him praises from the duo of the former England internationals.
“Yeah, he came as a young kid [at Man City] and the first thing I realised about him was how good his touch was,” said Richards. You could fire the ball in and he has great close control and he was left footed. He’s a better finisher than his record at Leicester suggests. I knew he was something special, and I want to see him kick onto the next level now.
“He’s got the chance with Vardy out, but to replace Vardy is always going to be difficult”, he concluded.
Fellow Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy is surprised Iheanacho has not figured more amid Vardy’s injury absence.
“I’ve been surprised he hasn’t started more while Vardy has been out,” said Murphy.
“I’ve always liked him, he’s more of a goalscorer in the number nine role than Perez, for me. I know he missed the penalty at Palace, but even more reason to leave him in there and give him time to get over that.
“When he’s at it, he’s a handful, he’s got good game intelligence, he knows when to go in behind and drive on goal. With Maddison playing as a 10, they link really nicely.”
