{"id":398492,"date":"2025-09-04T23:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T23:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/398492\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T23:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T23:29:11","slug":"kelechi-iheanachos-former-nigeria-boss-makes-three-things-clear-about-who-celtic-have-just-signed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/398492\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelechi Iheanacho&#8217;s former Nigeria boss makes three things clear about who Celtic have just signed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Celtic had to settle for Kelechi Iheanacho in the end.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.67hailhail.com\/transfers\/all-celtic-summer-2025-transfer-deadline-day-done-deals-signings-exits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Monday\u2019s transfer deadline day<\/a> was a disaster as the Hoops hierarchy failed to buy a replacement for Adam Idah, who left Parkhead for Swansea City.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.67hailhail.com\/opinion\/i-saw-kelechi-iheanacho-enjoy-the-best-spell-of-his-career-under-brendan-rodgers-he-can-get-him-firing-at-celtic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iheanacho arrives as a free agent<\/a> after Sevilla severed ties with the Nigerian, who only scored three goals in 11 appearances for the Spanish outfit.<\/p>\n<p>At Middlesbrough on loan last season, the 28-year-old\u2019s goal return was also poor, so have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.67hailhail.com\/club\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Celtic<\/a> really signed a quality striker?<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1738536241-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Kelechi Iheanacho of Nigeria celebrates after scoring his goal ,during the International Friendly match between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria at Estadio Municipal de Portimao\" class=\"wp-image-313648\" \/>Photo by MB Media\/Getty ImagesFinidi George says Celtic is \u2018perfect\u2019 for Iheanacho<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.67hailhail.com\/transfers\/celtic-manager-brendan-rodgers-message-to-fans-about-the-signing-of-kelechi-iheanacho\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brendan Rodgers thinks Celtic fans will love Iheanacho<\/a>, but only time will tell. Meanwhile, former Ajax and Nigeria star Finidi George has had his say.<\/p>\n<p>The Champions League and AFCON winner managed the Nigerian national team for a period in 2024, and thinks Celtic is the perfect fit for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.67hailhail.com\/tag\/kelechi-iheanacho\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iheanacho<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He made three things clear about the striker: he is a proven talent, will thrive in an attacking team, and has the hunger to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>George told <a href=\"https:\/\/footy-africa.com\/he-can-rise-again-george-finidi-backs-iheanachos-celtic-move\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Footy Africa<\/a>: \u201cKelechi is a proven talent, and I think Celtic is the perfect stage for him to show that again. Sometimes players just need the right environment, a club that believes in them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got the quality, and I believe he will deliver.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cCeltic play attacking football, and Kelechi thrives in that kind of setup. It\u2019s not easy to come back after a tough spell, but great players always find a way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has the hunger, and this is his chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When could Iheanacho make his Celtic debut?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Iheanacho has not been called up by Nigeria for the September internationals. He\u2019s scored 15 goals in 59 caps, but hasn\u2019t played for his nation since May against Jamaica.<\/p>\n<p>The Hoops are back in action on <strong>September 14 against Kilmarnock<\/strong> at Rugby Park, so Iheanacho could make his debut then.<\/p>\n<p>He doesn\u2019t look particularly fit, but Brendan Rodgers will do his best to get the striker up to speed over the international break.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celtic had to settle for Kelechi Iheanacho in the end. Monday\u2019s transfer deadline day was a disaster as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,136282,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-398492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-kelechi-iheanacho","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115148630954843494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}