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Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho breaks hand on international duty

By Harneet Singh Sethi

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City reacts during the Premier League match between Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth at The King Power Stadium on March 3, 2018 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City reacts during the Premier League match between Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth at The King Power Stadium on March 3, 2018 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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Kelechi Iheanacho will return to Leicester City with a broken hand, the Nigeria boss Gernot Rohr has confirmed.

The 21-year old has fractured his metacarpal bone and will now need assessing before Leicester know if he can play against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Iheanacho was supposed to feature for Nigeria against Serbia in Barnet; however, it was just before the game that Rohr informed about his injury, though the Super Eagles boss didn’t comment on the seriousness of the damage.

In his pre-match conference, he said:

"“Unfortunately, we have one broken hand,” said Rohr.“This player cannot play. He has fractured the first metacarpal. This is Kelechi Iheanacho, so he will not be with us.”"

Kelechi Iheanacho should probably be able to play next week, if not this week because of precaution. We have previously seen players play despite fractures to their hands, and the Nigeria international could do the same, too.

The former Citizen has only recently started to play more regularly under Claude Puel, having fully regained his fitness, confident and to some extent, his form as well.

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In 23 appearances this season, Kelechi Iheanacho has scored six goals and assisted three, though it’s worth pointing out that he has only started in nine of those games.

There are two major reasons behind so few starts for the Super Eagles striker. First of all, Jamie Vardy is irreplaceable up top, and secondly, Iheanacho hasn’t necessarily flourished as a second striker and a starter.

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There’s a feeling that there is more in him – and he has even shown that at times – but he hasn’t just been able to prove that when given the chance to. Hopefully, the big-money signing can come good in the closing stages of the season as Leicester City eye the UEFA Europa League next season.

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