‘He Was Unfairly Criticised’- Ndidi On His Teammate Iheanacho

The Super Eagles attacker is receiving praises for his recent performances, but he has been criticised in the past for failing to do more

Wilfred Ndidi insists Kelechi Iheanacho did not deserve the criticism he received during his struggles in the last two years.

Iheanacho has been on a good run of form in recent weeks, which has earned him a new two-year deal at Leicester City.

The Nigerian international is currently enjoying his best spell as a Foxes player and was named the Premier League player for March.

However, it has not always been rosy for Iheanacho at Leicester since joining from Manchester City for 25m pounds in 2017.

The 24-year-old struggled in front of goal in his first few seasons despite getting numerous opportunities. It got worse for the former Golden Eaglets star last season as he did not feature in a Premier League game until December 2019.

However, he turned it around in the game against Everton, providing an assist and scoring the winner to help Foxes achieve a 2-1 victory.

His performances have improved since then, but he has taken it to a higher level in the last few weeks. And speaking about his teammate’s form, Ndidi insists Iheanacho has always had the talent and does not deserve past criticism.

“Kelechi’s talent was never in doubt, but as it is in life, people love to criticise others when they are down,” Ndidi told BBC Sport Africa.

“He was unfairly criticised and judged by different people. This is someone I have known from our youth days at the under-17s, and I know his quality, so it’s not a fluke that he is producing his best football again.

“I am very happy for him because he’s doing wonderfully well now, and everyone can see.

“It’s just sad that when he needed encouragement in the past few years, many were quick to write him off, but thankfully some of these people have now turned around to praise him. That’s life.”

Iheanacho has scored 12 times and registered five assists in 29 games for Leicester City this season.