BEVERLY HILLS, May 08, (THEWILL) – It has been a turnaround season for Nigeria’s in-form forward Kelechi Iheanacho, co-striker for English Premier League side Leicester City, alongside Jamie Vardy. After his superlative form in March won him the prestigious EPL Player Of The Month award, the Super Eagles striker has now been shortlisted for April’s award, as he continued his exploits from March.
The 24-year-old netted 4 goals while provided two critical assists in April to help the Foxes maintain their third spot in the top four battle of the top flight for spaces in Europe’s biggest football competition for next season.
For April’s award, Iheanacho is shortlisted alongside the following equally brilliant players in that month of fixtures: Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Stuart Dallas of Leeds, Mason Greenwood of Manchester United, West Ham’s Jesse Lingard, Matheus Pereira of West Brom, Newcastle United’s Allan Saint-Maximin and Chris Wood of Burnley.
So far this season, Iheanacho has found the back of the net 11 times for Leicester and he is credited with helping the men from the King Power Stadium to their first FA Cup final since 1969, with his strike in the semi-final tie against Southampton, that settled it in Leicester’s favour.
If he wins the award for April, Iheanacho will join a more exclusive class of the only other Nigerian to have won it on more than one occasion, joining Peter Odemwingie who did the same but for three different months with West Bromwich Albion.
Brendan Rodgers will be hoping Iheanacho can keep up this form in front of goal to keep Leicester’s top four hopes alive after the disappointing 4-2 result against Newcastle on Friday night in their stadium, which represented a huge dent on they chances. With away games against Manchester United and Chelsea and one home tie against Tottenham Hotspur ahead, Iheanacho’s scoring abilities can be the difference to avoid a repeat of last season’s dismal ending.
A nomination as this coming so soon after the award for March can act as a confidence spur and morale booster to inject a performance improvement in the Nigerian international at just the right time for the team, which is exactly what they need at this point of the season.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
