“He was a fighter” – Super Eagles star reveals the former Arsenal man who helped him adapt to Premier League football

The Nigeria worldwide has solely performed for 2 Premier League golf equipment since he arrived in England eight years in the past

Leicester Metropolis ahead Kelechi Iheanacho has revealed how two of his former Manchester Metropolis teammates – Gaël Clichy and Vincent Kompany – performed essential roles in serving to his improvement in England.

Iheanacho joined Manchester Metropolis in 2014 as a young person with none expertise in European soccer, having arrived straight from Nigeria’s Taye Academy.

The striker has even confessed that he didn’t initially wish to signal for Metropolis and that it took the intervention of his father to persuade him to crew up with the Residents.

The then-teen ahead, nonetheless, believed in his potential, having helped Nigeria win the u17 FIFA World Cup in 2013.

Nonetheless, the powerful climate situations in England and the excessive calls for of English soccer had been the primary challenges Iheanacho needed to battle with in Manchester.

Supervisor Manuel Pellegrini, nonetheless, promoted Iheanacho from the academy to the primary crew inside a yr of signing for Metropolis.

However getting right into a crew blessed with quite a few attacking skills was by no means going to be simple. Iheanacho stays grateful, nonetheless, to the Metropolis captain on the time Vincent Kompany for his phrases of encouragement.

Much more vital was the assist of former Arsenal defender Gaël Clichy who taught Iheanacho how you can seize his alternative each time it got here.

“The supervisor (Manuel Pellegrini) mentioned to me that I used to be going into the primary crew, so I used to be actually pleased and the gamers liked me as properly,” Iheanacho advised LCFC. “It was a really fantastic expertise to be in a crew like that and a profitable crew. I used to be actually pleased to be a part of that.

“Clearly, I didn’t get to play a lot however I used to be a part of a giant squad with good gamers to win that. It was thrilling. There have been numerous them (high quality gamers). Yaya Touré, Samir Nasri, Jesús Navas, David Silva, and the captain Vincent Kompany, who all the time talked to me and gave me recommendation.

“And Gaël Clichy, I referred to as him my trainer. He’s the one who taught me how you can go and get what you need and how you can be powerful and struggle on the pitch as a result of he’s a fighter. He by no means will get drained.

“He was all the time with me and pushing me. If he was towards me [in training], he was going to kick me and say that I’ve to face and struggle again. I’ll always remember his sort phrases and instructing. He was my closest buddy.”

Iheanacho left Manchester Metropolis for Leicester Metropolis in 2017 after scoring 21 targets in 64 appearances.