Is City Right Move For Iheanacho?

There was very little chance of a club outside European football aristocratic class signing Kelechi Iheanacho, who was named the best player at this year’s Under-17 World Cup at the United Arab Emirates.

A string of eye-catching performances, which delivered six goals, including one in the final won by Nigeria, meant there would be a stampede for his signature. Arsenal, Chelsea, Porto and Manchester City were among the many suitors. Probably, some lesser lights were also keen. But in a competition for elite talents, lesser lights of the game, more often than not, get dimmed by the big hitters.

Iheanacho chose City after, according to his father, the family decided it was the best place for him to fulfil his potential. The family’s decision, his father was quoted as saying, was influenced by prayer. “We prayed and, after due consultations with family members, we came up with Manchester City, believing he has a future there. That is where he will be uplifted,” said the father.  Perhaps.

But the club’s recent history of moulding young talents into stars for the team hardly supports the optimism of the youngster’s father. Last year, the club announced its intention to institute a “holistic” approach to management, something resembling the immensely successful Barcelona model.

Under former manager, Roberto Mancini, the club’s elite development programme did not produce a single player for the first team. Promising players like Denis Suarez, since sold to Barcelona; John Guidetti, Abdul Razak and Karim Rekik have not managed to feature regularly for the team. Rekik is currently on loan at Holland’s PSV, while Razak has been sold to Russia’s Anzhi. Guidetti, a Swede, remains but will struggle to get even a bit-part role. The only fruit of the club’s academy that is anywhere close to the first team is defender Micah Richards who, since 2012, has suffered from a conspiracy between injuries and poor form. Dedryck Boyota has done nothing more significant than featuring in cup competitions.

Not long ago, City had a reputation for successfully nuturing young talents. Daniel Sturridge, now a hit at Liverpool; and Stephen Ireland who, unfortunately has failed to deliver on the promise he made when he broke into the team, are examples. Those days, however, are gone; kicked into history by Arab money. City are a club in a hurry and with the money from Abu Dhabi, established stars, even at astronomical costs, will almost always block the paths of academy products. Iheanacho may yet get lucky. But a starring role at an U-17 World Cup is no guarantee of anything. Mexico’s Carlos Vela, signed by Arsenal after emerging the best player at the 2005 U-17 World Cup held in Peru, failed to catch fire at the club, which has a superb reputation at nurturing kid stars. Florent Sinama-Pongolle, once of Liverpool, is hardly remembered by anybody outside the club that signed him when he emerged the top star of the 2001 U-17 World Cup hosted by Trinidad and Tobago. So is his compatriot in the French team, Austin Le Tallec. Would Iheanacho’s chances be brighter at a less monied and less glamorous club? Predicting how things will pan out for a tyro is no exact science. Manchester City’s haste to establish themselves as a genuine powerhouse in the European game looks like it will come at a cost to bright young things in their academy. On Iheanacho, fingers crossed.

Manchester City spent a total of 103,200,000 last season which is part of the over 900,000,000 that they have spent in the last five seasons.

—Bamidele Johnson