West Ham United has reportedly tabled a bid for Manchester City’s £20m-rated striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
The highly rated Nigerian forward has continuously struggled for game time under Pep Guardiola in the just concluded season, starting just one game for Manchester City since the arrival of Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus in January.
According to the Daily Mail, the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup winner was forced to travel back to Manchester after Nigeria’s 1-1 draw with Corsica to discuss his potential transfer to the East London side.
With both Andy Carol and Diafra Sakho facing injury problems, the Hammers have reportedly opened the bidding at £24m hoping to lure the former Taye Academy product from the Etihad as they look to add more firepower for next season.
The report adds that City is planning to insert a buy-back clause giving the option to re-sign the player inside a certain period of time despite not clarifying whether the Hammers would agree to such a deal.
With West Ham setting the ball in motion, more clubs have expressed interest in the forward with Leicester, Everton, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, and two German sides already actively monitoring his situation.
Iheanacho, however, continued to deny the speculations saying, [perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I’m not very aware of that.[/perfectpullquote]
“I just keep working with the team and I’m still at Manchester City so I’ll meet up with the boys and kick off the season with Manchester City.”
The 20-year-old despite having limited time, still managed to tally an impressive seven goals and three assists, with those strikes coming at an average rate of one every 128 minutes, a testament to his potential.
He continued his impressive scoring record against Corsica, leveling the score from the spot to ensure the Super Eagles remain unbeaten in the eight games since Gernot Rohr took over as head coach.
He will be expected back in camp before the Super Eagles take on Togo in the French capital on June 10 for the final friendly in preparation to host South Africa in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, later in June
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