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Kelechi Iheanacho is peaking at the right time this season.
After months on the sidelines at Celtic, he is now the team’s in-form attacker, with three goals in his last three games.
Iheanacho’s cameo against St Mirren saw him score two extra-time goals, including an excellent left-footed finish for his second. As things look, he could be a main character for the rest of the season in Scottish football.
His return to form has drawn attention in his homeland, too, where he hasn’t been called up in over a year.
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Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Nigeria hero Mutiu Adepoju backs Celtic’s Kelechi Iheanacho for Nigeria return
Adepoju told FootyAfrica: “Kelechi has always been a very good player and a good scorer who has done very well over the years.
“Unfortunately, these past few years he has not been finding it easy and all that.
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Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
“I’m happy that he is coming back and he is doing very well in Celtic. I just believe he will be able to sustain that and continue.
“Experience matters, and if he is doing very well and I believe if the handlers of the national team see and find him worthy, then he can still come back.
“I believe he has that ability to come back to the team.”
Since making his international debut as a teenager, Iheanacho has scored 14 goals in 58 appearances for the Super Eagles.
However, the last of these goals came in November 2023. Despite being the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria have failed to qualify for both the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.
Iheanacho isn’t short on competition in the striker position, either. Victor Osimhen is the team’s star player, whilst Viktor Boniface, Akor Adams and Paul Onuachu are all playing at a high level.
Not to mention, there’s also a pair of ex-Rangers strikers in Umar Sadiq and Cyriel Dessers.
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Credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Martin O’Neill’s fitness doubt over Celtic’s Kelechi Iheanacho
Speaking about Iheanacho after Sunday’s win, Martin O’Neill said of increasing his playing time: “I couldn’t disagree with that, yes.
“Obviously he’s had the few injury problems. I think I said to you that sometimes it he felt as if he started the games, he might not see the game through.
“We’ve got a couple like that at the moment. But yes, today his goals have been big for us, really big.
“He says he is completely fit, and I’m not completely sure! But he was brilliant. He took the goals magnificently. You can see why he’s had a career.”
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