Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday joined in celebrating the birthday of Leicester City attacker, Kelechi Iheanacho, who clocked 22 a day earlier.
Footballlive.ng recalls that Iheanacho was born on October 3, 1996 in the suburbs of Imo State capital, Owerri.
He burst to limelight as a member of the conquering Golden Eaglets squad that won UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he emerged most valuable player and caught the eye of English champs, Manchester City.
After initially sending him on loan to Columbus Crew of America, Iheanacho was called up to Man City’s senior squad for the 2015–16 season.
He was groomed at Taye Academy in Owerri, but his performances for the Eaglets led to interest from clubs like Arsenal of England, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal and FC Porto of Portugal.
In December 2012, Iheanacho travelled to England to discuss a move to Man City, and signed a pre-contract of intent to formally sign for them on his 18th birthday in October 2014.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) named him the Most Promising Talent of the Year for 2013, and Iheanacho joined City’s Academy on 10 January 2014.
Before the season, City visited United States on a pre-season tour, and Iheanacho was taken along with the senior squad.
He played and scored in a 4–1 win against Sporting Kansas City and then scored again against AC Milan in a 5–1 win.
At the end of the tour, The Citizens arranged for Iheanacho to train with Columbus Crew until mid-October, for him to develop further.
Since then, Iheanacho has blossomed into a key player for club and country, as he left City to former EPL champions, Leicester, and continues making waves with the Nigerian national team.
Based on his heroics with the Super Eagles, for which he starred at the recent World Cup in Russia, the NFF joined in celebrating his birthday, with a message meant to show that they had not forgotten his happy day.
The NFF wrote on their Twittter account: “Happy birthday @NGSuperEagles forward, @67Kelechi. Enjoy!”
