Statistics reveal Kelechi Iheanacho’s brilliance alongside Drogba, Cantona, Aguero and other Premier League Greats

Super Eagles forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, relegated with Leicester City last season, but how good is the forward? Let’s take a detailed look

Super Eagles and Leicester City Striker, Kelechi Iheanacho, won the FA Cup and the Community Shield with the Foxes before getting relegated at the end of the 2022/2023 season, where he was usually in and out of the team.

One thing was sure, whenever “Senior man”, as he is popularly called, played a long spell of impressive games for Leicester, who did well in the League table, but last season, the forward started just eleven out of Leicester’s thirty-eight games. Even though that was partly due to injuries, it is no doubt that if he had been around for much longer, The Foxes would have stayed in the Premier League.

Soccernet.ng took a detailed dive into the statistics of Kelechi Iheanacho and the forward currently in the top ten in the minute-per-goal contribution ratio of all-time Premier League forwards who have played over a hundred and fifty games in the league.

What this means is, Kelechi is very involved in creating a goal or assisting them whenever he features on the pitch and in a list that involves Thierry Henry, Sergio Aguero, Didier Drogba, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it shows how underrated Iheanacho is.

Here are the top ten Premier League players ranked by goal-contribution-to-minute ratio;

10. Kelechi Iheanacho.

The versatile forward who can play as a lone striker up-front or as a supporting striker has, Kelechi featured in a hundred and ninety-six Premier League games, scoring forty-two goals and assisting another twenty-five, accruing a goal contribution to an average of every hundred and seventeen minutes.

 

9. Didier Drogba

Chelsea’s and Ivory Coast’s talisman, it is rare to mention Chelsea without Drogba. The magnificent forward donned the shirt for nine Premier League seasons, playing two hundred and fifty-four games, scoring a hundred and four goals, and assisting fifty-five, averaging a goal contribution every hundred and ten minutes.

8. Gabriel Jesus, Eric Cantona, and Ole Gunnar Solskjær

At number eight, we have three strikers vying for the spot. Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus, Ex-Leeds and Manchester United striker Eric Cantona and the man who scored the winning goal of the Champions League Final in 1999, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. All three averaged a goal contribution every hundred and seven minutes.

Eric Cantona scored sixty-nine goals and assisted another forty in his five-year stint in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Ole scored ninety-one, assisting the same as Cantona, and so far, Gabriel Jesus has scored fifty-eight goals and aided twenty-nine goals.

5. Harry Kane

The England captain has been breaking records year after year for Tottenham and is ranked fifth place, scoring two hundred and thirteen goals, and assisting another forty-four, averaging a goal or assist every hundred and four minutes.

4. Robin van Persie

A man who achieved such a rare feat is popular among arch-rivals Arsenal and Manchester United. Robin scored ninety-six goals combined for both teams and assisted thirty-nine. He also won the golden boot in 2013, helping United secure their 20th Premier League trophy, averaging a goal or assist every ninety-nine minutes.

3. Mohammed Salah

The Egyptian King, whose purchase brought the resurgence Liverpool needed. Since signing Salah, Liverpool has gone on to win every possible trophy a European club side can lay their hands on, and the left-footed winger has been instrumental in that, scoring a hundred and thirty-seven goals in the League and teeing up his teammates to score fifty-eight times. His statistics indicate that he is involved in a goal contribution every 93 minutes. Lethal!

2. Thierry Henry

World-Cup winner, Euro Championships winner, Premier League winner, Champions League winner, Thierry has done it all. The man who led Arsenal to an invincible season scored a hundred and seventy-five times in the Premier League and also has seventy-four assists in his locker, averaging a goal contribution every eighty-six minutes, just a minute short of the record holder.

1. Sergio Aguero

The Argentine striker had 184 goals, 48 assists, and a goal contribution every 85 minutes. And even Pep Guardiola was emotional at Aguero’s departure, saying, “We cannot replace him,” which showed how special the Argentine was.

The electric forward, famous for scoring near-post goals, scored a hundred and eighty-four goals, and assisted another forty-eight, averaging a goal every eighty-five minutes, and with his replacement currently racking up numbers, the record might not last very long.

Although he is yet to play a hundred and fifty games in the English top flight, Erling Haaland averages a goal contribution every sixty-three minutes.