From Vanguard...
Head coach of the Nigeria national
team coach, Stephen Keshi is unhappy that the best player at the 2013 Fifa
Under-17 World Cup, Kelechi Iheanacho will not be part of the Super Eagles side
that will compete at the 2014 African Nations Championship (Chan) in South
Africa.
Iheanacho was reportedly hurled off
to Manchester City earlier this month to undergo trials with the Barclays
English Premier League club.
However, nothing came out of the
trip to Eastlands and the midfielder has now been left in limbo with Keshi
declaring that the 17-year-old is no longer in his immediate plans.
Keshi, who is one of the first
Nigerians to play professionally in Europe, believes Iheanacho’s budding career
could be hampered by excessive “external influences.”
“External influences have started
because he’s a young footballer who needs the right kind of guidance,” Keshi
told supersport.com.
The former Nigeria captain who
played for Lokeren, Anderlecht and Strasbourg also questioned the rationale
behind taking Iheanacho to Manchester, inferring that the youngster would
have struggled to break into the squad.
“Iheanacho is a young kid and I see
no reason why anyone would advice him or his father to take him to Manchester
City.
“He’s a very good player but he
still needs to develop. Playing in the Chan would have been a very good
opportunity to grow, mature and learn more about the game. Now he has lost that
opportunity,” he said.
The Nigeria trainer also revealed
that he refrained from advising the youngster on what decision to take when the
opportunity arose for him to travel for talks with the former English champions.
“I couldn’t have done that because
it’s not my style or practice.
“As footballers and human beings, I
will help the boys to grow but when it comes to their contract situations with
clubs, I will never say a word.
“My approach is ‘you go and do your
thing. If it’s good for you, thank God; if it’s not, that’s your business’,” he
said
No comments:
Post a Comment