Micah Richards – Match of the Day pundit Micah Richards insists Kelechi Iheanacho is a better finisher than his goalscoring record at Leicester City suggests.
Iheanacho scored his fourth goal of the season – his first of the campaign in the Premier League – in Wednesday night’s 2-0 victory at Fulham.
The Nigerian has been back-up to Jamie Vardy during his Foxes career but Richards, a former teammate of Iheanacho’s at Manchester City, believes he has plenty to offer if given a regular run of games.
“Yeah, he came as a young kid [at Man City] and the first thing I realized about him was how good his touch was,” said Richards.
“You could fire the ball in and he has great close control and he was left-footed.
“He’s a better finisher than his record at Leicester suggests. I knew he was something special, and I want to see him kick onto the next level now.
“He’s got the chance with Vardy out, but to replace Vardy is always going to be difficult.”
Fellow Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy is surprised Iheanacho has not figured more amid Vardy’s injury absence.
“I’ve been surprised he hasn’t started more while Vardy has been out,” said Murphy.
“I’ve always liked him, he’s more of a goalscorer in the number nine role than Perez, for me. I know he missed the penalty at Palace, but even more, a reason to leave him in there and give him time to get over that.
“When he’s at it, he’s a handful, he’s got good game intelligence, he knows when to go in behind and drive on goal. With Maddison playing as a 10, they link really nicely.”