Kelechi Iheanacho: 17 goals in 14 games, and the one thing they lack

Kelechi Iheanacho has scored 17 goals in 14 league games for Bursaspor this season, yet the Super Eagles striker is not part of Friday's AFCON 2027 qualifier against Tanzania, with the level of those goals at the heart of the debate.

The 30-year-old joined Bursaspor in the summer on a three-year deal after his spell at Celtic, and his start in Turkey has been remarkable. Figures published by The72 on 10 November also credit him with three assists, and a run of scoring in 12 consecutive league games that included four braces.

That run ended in a 3-0 win over Bandırmaspor at the end of October, when he did not score. He was back on the scoresheet against Antalyaspor, opening the scoring in the 26th minute from an Amine Boutrah delivery for his 17th league goal of the campaign.

Seventeen goals, but in the TFF 1. Lig

The detail that matters is the division. Bursaspor play in the TFF 1. Lig, Turkey's second tier, and that is the one thing his numbers cannot give him: proof against top-flight defences.

The72, which follows former Football League players abroad, made the same point while praising his season.

Albeit against a lower level of opposition, Iheanacho is in the best form of his life with Bursaspor.

Eric Chelle left Iheanacho out of the 24-man squad for the Tanzania double-header, as covered in our report on the squad announcement, even with Victor Osimhen out injured.

Analysis: The goals keep Iheanacho in the conversation, the league keeps him out

Chelle's forwards in Uyo include Akor Adams, Tolu Arokodare and Taiwo Awoniyi, with Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon able to play off them. Arokodare, for one, has 12 goals in 16 games for Ajax in a top-flight league, which makes it easier for a coach to pick him on form.

Iheanacho's numbers are still hard to ignore. Seventeen goals in 14 matches is a rate of more than one a game, and scoring in 12 league games in a row needs more than luck against weaker opponents.

The fair reading is that he has done everything a player in his position can do. If Nigeria's forwards struggle against Tanzania, the case for a striker scoring this often will only get louder, wherever he is doing it.

For now, the next test is Bursaspor's, and every goal he adds before the next international window keeps the question in front of Chelle, as Adams and company try to settle the No. 9 role in Uyo.