Manchester City have made a sensational U-turn to have Kelechi Iheanacho feature for Nigeria at next month’s African Youth Championship.
After first saying the player will be unavailable for the AYC in Senegal due to injury, English Premier League champions City have now gone back on this, saying Iheanacho could be released to join the Flying Eagles for Senegal 2015 as he has fully recovered ahead of a mid-March time frame earlier set by the EPL club.
The player himself has called up coach Manu Garba to inform him he has recovered from a long-term ankle injury, while expressing his willingness to feature at the AYC.
The MVP for the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup, who followed the team’s recent warm-up matches in Ghana via telephone, told Manu he will even play a match for City reserves on Tuesday.
A source further said: “The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is expected to liase with the medical staff of City to determine the extent of Kelechi’s recovery after which a final decision will be taken on this issue.”
The NFF have till Thursday midnight to submit to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a final 21-man squad for the AYC.
