Leicester City have completed the £25million signing of Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who has signed a five-year contract with his new club.
The Nigeria international has shown great promise at the Etihad Stadium, but he had been unable to force his way into becoming a first team regular and Pep Guardiola was willing to let him leave. However, it is clear the Manchester club rate the 20-year-old highly, as they have secured a £50million buy-back option.
This is twice the amount the Foxes have paid for the striker, who has scored 21 goals in 64 appearances for his former club. He becomes Leicester’s fourth signing of the summer following Harry Maguire, Vicente Iborra and Eldin Jakupovic, and it is one which excites manager Craig Shakespeare.
“It’s a great signing for us. Kelechi is an enormously talented player,” he told LCFC TV. “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.”
This move will provide Iheanacho with the platform to show he is ready to occupy a regular place in the starting line-up of a Premier League side, and he will hope to feature against Arsenal next Friday. In the meantime, he is just pleased to have secured a move to the recently dethroned league champions.
“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,” said the player, who will take the number eight jersey at his new club.
