Kelechi Iheanacho Completes Leicester City Transfer from Manchester City
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| Kelechi Iheanacho |
The month-long transfer saga has finally come to an end with the 20-year-old Nigeria international confirmed as a Leicester player on a five-year deal.
Iheanacho completed his medical at Leicester on Tuesday and has become Craig Shakespeare’s fourth signing of the summer.
Leicester and Man City have had a fee agreed since the start of July but the deal was delayed due to a legal tussle between Iheanacho’s former and current agents over his image rights.
It is believed Man City have insisted on a buy-back clause in the deal, which has been reported to be £50m.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola had confirmed last month that Iheanacho was due to leave the club "within 10 days" but it has taken longer for the legal disputes to be resolved.
Craig Shakespeare also admitted he was “frustrated” by the transfer window but, finally, he has his man in time for the opening Premier League game of the season at Arsenal on August 11.
City fans will be hoping to see Iheanacho in action in the final pre-season friendly at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach this Friday.
Speaking to LCFC TV, Iheanacho said: "It feels good and I’m happy to be part of this team. I know the ambition of the team and speaking with the manager, he let me know what I need to do – to help the team achieve what they want. I was convinced and I’m happy to be here.
Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare added: “It’s a great signing for us. Kelechi is an enormously talented player that has shown a huge amount of promise at every level in which he’s played.
“We’ve tracked his progress for some time, so we know how much quality he’ll bring to the squad. He’s young, he’s hungry, he’s ready for the next stage of his development and I’m delighted that will be with Leicester City.”
Iheanacho scored 21 goals in 64 appearances for Man City but boasts the highest goals-to-minutes ratio of any player to have scored 10 or more Premier League goals.
The striker will enjoy a couple of friendly faces in the Leicester dressing room, too, alongside fellow Nigeria team-mates Wilfred Ndidi and Ahmed Musa.
Iheanacho can play as a main striker, but also as a No.10 and it will be interesting to see how Shakespeare plans to utilise the youngster alongside Jamie Vardy.
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