Kelechi Iheanacho: I preferred Porto, but my father wanted Manchester City for me

Manchester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, has disclosed that he had in mind to play for Portuguese giants, FC Porto than Manchester City few years ago after the 2013 U-17 World Youth Championship in the UAE.

Kelechi Iheanacho was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and top scorer, and expectedly offers flooded in for him from top European sides.

According to the forward, a word of advice from his father gave Manchester City the edge in signing him.

He told The Players Tribune, “After the tournament, a few European clubs were interested in signing me: Arsenal, Porto and some others. And also, of course, Manchester City. I did not know much about these clubs.

“I thought I would choose Porto, because I knew many African players had success with the club in the past.

“I didn’t really believe that I could play at City because they had so many incredible players.

“But my father told me that I should choose City because he believed that I could achieve great things there. So I listened to my father.”

Iheanacho has since gone ahead to establish himself in the first team of the Etihad outfit and enjoyed more playing time and confidence under former manager, Manuel Pellegrini as predicted by his father.

But the youngster has since the start of the year found games hard to come by with coach Pep Guardiola preferring Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Kun Aguero.