Leicester City: Claude Puel wants to clear way for Kelechi Iheanacho
Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho has not had the impact many expected, but if you ask Claude Puel, it has more to do with opportunity than ability.
The Leicester manager spoke recently about his young Nigerian front man and expressed his delight with Iheanacho’s performance against Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup. Iheanacho notched two goals against the lower league side, including the first ever goal determined by the Video Assistant Referee system.
Puel said, according to the Leicester Mercury, as quoted by HITC:
"“Sometimes it is difficult to give all the game time to some of the players because for example we have six strikers in his position.“Without a good balance in the squad it is difficult to manage all these players and continue to improve them. It will be important in this transfer window to find this good balance and I hope Kelechi will get more game time in the future.”"
In no uncertain terms, Puel’s intention is to clear out some of the glut in that forward position to give Iheanacho a greater chance because of all the promise he has shown. The youngster was lighting it up with Manchester City before he made his to the King Power Stadium but that was largely in a substitute role for the Citizens.
Related Story: Claude Puel happy with Kelechi Iheanacho after FA Cup brace
He has shown that he is more than capable of leading the line for Leicester City but minutes have been hard to come by. Not only is he competing with Jamie Vardy for time, he has also had to compete with Ahmed Musa, Shinji Okazaki, Islam Slimani and Leonardo Ulloa.
Slimani is set for a move to Newcastle United and Ulloa is rumored to be on his way to Aston Villa, so that clear out has begun, but there are still the aforementioned Vardy and Okazaki in the way. The more likely scenario would be for Iheanacho to become that first striker off the bench or perhaps the partner up top with Vardy against attacking sides.
His pace combined with Vardy’s could be deadly on the counter attack, and that pace was on display when he played as the secondary striker with Slimani against Fleetwood.
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The best thing going for Iheanacho is his youth as he is just 21 years old and has plenty of years ahead of him to establish himself as the number one man in Leicester blue. With Puel clearing out some of the more veteran strikers around him, it will give the young star even more of a chance to prove himself.