Nigeria international and Manchester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho turns 20 today. DailyTrust chronicles 40 things you need to know about the superstar.
Kelechi Promise Iheanacho was born 3 October 1996 to Mr and Mrs James Iheanacho .
He was born in the town of Obogwe in Ohaji Egbema LGA, in the state of Imo.
His favourite hit track is Freedom by Senegalese-American R&B and hip-hop artist, Akon.
Iheanacho was always among the top three in his class during his days at Nursery and Primary school.
His parents flogged him for playing football. They were not convinced that he would make a breakthrough in life through football.
They started supporting his football career when he led Imo state to win a Youth tournament in Abuja.
As a youth, he represented Taiye Academy in Owerri, the capital city of Imo.
His first major international tournament was the 2013 African U-17 Championship in Morocco, where he bagged a hat-trick against Botswana.
He dedicated his goals at 2013 African U-17 Championship in Morocco to his mother, who passed away two months before the tournament.
He became the hottest teenage footballer in the world after being voted as the Adidas Golden Ball Award winner at the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup
His performances for Nigeria in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup led to interest from clubs in Europe; teams following his progress included Arsenal, Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) named him the Most Promising Talent of the Year for 2013 at the CAF Awards.
He wanted to join Porto but his father convinced him to sign for Manchester City.
In December 2013, Iheanacho travelled to England to discuss a move to Manchester City. He signed a pre-contract agreement with the club, stating his intent to formally sign for City on his 18th birthday in October 2014.
He joined Man City on 10 January 2014. Before the 2014–15 season, City visited the United States on a pre-season tour, and although still not formally a City player, he joined up with the squad. He played and scored in the first match of the tour, a 4–1 win against Sporting Kansas City, and scored again against Milan in a 5–1 win. After the conclusion of the tour, Manchester City arranged for Iheanacho to train with the Columbus Crew until mid-October.
Delays in obtaining a work permit meant Iheanacho was unable to play in England until February 2015. He made his debut at under-19 level in a UEFA Youth League match against Schalke 04, but sustained an injury after only 11 minutes.
After his recovery, he began to represent Manchester City at both youth and under-21 level in the latter part of the season.
He played in the FA Youth Cup final, where he scored, but ended on the losing side after Chelsea claimed a 5–2 aggregate victory. The following week, he scored the only goal as Manchester City beat Porto in the final of the 2014–15 Premier League International Cup.
In July 2015, Iheanacho was included in City's pre-season tour team in Australia. On the tour, he set up the first goal for Raheem Sterling and scored the second goal in the win against Roma in the 2015 International Champions Cup. He also set up Sterling for the fourth goal in City's 8–1 victory against the Vietnam national team. In City's last pre-season game, against VfB Stuttgart, he came on as a substitute, scoring late on in a 4–2 defeat. Due to his impressive pre-season, Iheanacho was promoted to the Manchester City senior squad.
On 10 August 2015, Iheanacho was included in a first-team matchday squad for the first time in a competitive fixture, however he remained an unused subtitute in their 3–0 win at West Bromwich Albion in their first game of the Premier League season.
He made his competitive debut, replacing Raheem Sterling for the final minute of a 2–0 win against Watford at the City of Manchester Stadium.
He scored his first competitive goal on 12 September, replacing Wilfried Bony in the final minute in a match away to Crystal Palace and scoring the only goal of the game.
Iheanacho scored his first career hat-trick on 30 January 2016 against Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup, also setting up City's fourth goal, scored by Raheem Sterling.
The following month, he was put in City's UEFA Champions League squad at the expense of the injured Samir Nasri
Iheanacho ended the 2015–16 season with eight Premier League goals and had the best goals-per-minute ratio of any player averaging, a goal every 93.9 minutes.
In all competitions he finished with a record of 14 goals and 5 assists from 35 appearances, although he only started 11 of these games. His goals total also meant he ended the season as City's third-highest scorer.
On 10 September 2016, Iheanacho started in the Manchester Derby, he recorded an assist and his first goal of the season in the 2-1 win.
Four days later, 14 September 2016, Iheanacho came off the bench to score the final goal in City's 4-0 home win in the Champions League, against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
His goal against AFC Bournemouth on 16 September took his goal tally in the Premier League to 10, allowing him to join an exclusive list of players to have scored 10 Premier League goals before the age of 20. He is the first African in the Premier League to join this list
This list includes world class talents such as Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs,Nicolas Anelka,Michael Owen and Romelu Lukaku.
His achievement is more impressive because he reached this tally of goals with only 14 shots on target, showing how lethal he is in front of goal.
His outrageous stats continue with him averaging a goal every 80 minutes, a statistic which bests that of players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, making him one of the top talents in world football.
Iheanacho has represented Nigeria at youth levels from under-13 upwards.
Iheanacho played a significant role in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he won the Golden Ball award for player of the tournament.
Nigeria won the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, thanks to Iheanacho six goals and seven assists.
He was part of the Nigeria squad for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, and featured in two matches.
Iheanacho made his senior debut as a substitute in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Swaziland in which Nigeria drew 0–0.
His first start for the senior team was on 25 March 2016, a 1–1 draw with Egypt in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.However, he did not participate in the competition because he wasn't released by Manchester City in order to prove himself to new coach Pep Guardiola
He is the highest paid Nigerian footballer, earning £85,000-a-week
-DailyTrust
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