Kelechi Iheanacho may be Celtic’s biggest unanswered question of the season… and there is some competition.
Without looking like a transformative signing, Iheanacho looked to at least be encouraging after his first three games, which all saw him make an impact.
An injury at home to Sturm Graz derailed his momentum, and he made just one matchday squad in Martin O’Neill’s first interim spell.
When he was finally fit to start, Wilfried Nancy named him in his Premier Sports Cup Final XI against St Mirren… after playing reasonably well for 40 minutes, he was injured again. He hasn’t started a game since.
Thoughts?
Kelechi Iheanacho raises Celtic questions
That’s despite, presumably, being fit and available for most of that time. He was a late substitute in both legs of Celtic’s Europa League exit to Stuttgart, but hasn’t been named in any of Celtic’s last five domestic squads.
There is some interesting context around his current situation.
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Comments were made about Iheanacho’s weight when he was signed, only for Brendan Rodgers to reveal that he had one of the lowest body fat percentages at the club.
In fact, another of Rodgers’ comments when the striker joined has aged like milk. The then-manager said: “It’s the one thing with Kels: he was a player that trained every day, and he was always available.”
Not the only time this season that the reality has been the exact opposite of what Rodgers has said…
As for O’Neill, his winter signings are looking worse with every game currently. Of the five players brought in by the 74-year-old (Julian Araujo was a Tisdale/Nancy number), three have already been hooked at half-time after making desperately poor starts to games – twice in the case of Junior Adamu.
Alan Brazil is far from the sturdiest of sources, but the radio host claimed that O’Neill was ‘raging’ at the club’s winter window last week, due to a desire for permanent signings rather than loans.
Given that the interim boss was a talkSPORT regular prior to taking the job, those rumours aren’t without at least some credibility.
If Iheanacho was thrown in from nowhere to start against Aberdeen on Wednesday, it would be a bold call by the manager – but also a justified one.
He may differ in style from Adamu and Tomas Cvancara, but in his 579 minutes played for the club so far, he has shown tidiness, composure and match-winning quality that would surely become more evident with a run of games.
There are also unverified rumours that the club is avoiding playing him due to a potential arrangement in his contract based on appearing in games or matchday squads. Again, far from official, but not inconceivable.
Regardless of the reasons for his absence, Iheanacho will remain the elephant in the room for as long as Celtic’s attack continues to underperform.
You are Martin O’Neill, what is the first change you would make for the cup game against Rangers?
A worrying inside track on Kelechi Iheanacho’s Celtic signing, revisited
We all know that transfer activity was the main reason for Rodgers’ sudden departure in October – and at the time, Iheanacho was named as a contributing factor on an inside report by the 42.
The report said: “Alarm bells were ringing back in January when Rodgers was on the lookout for a new striker.
He spoke with a contact at a top flight club in England and looked to sort a loan deal for an international striker who was on the fringes of the first team and keen for regular football.
“The Celtic boss was the point of contact for the move, and while Jay Lefevre was the head of scouting operations, Rodgers was the one driving things to try and get it done.
“But a deal never materialised as it became apparent in discussions that the striker would not be a good fit in Glasgow.
“Rodgers is now gone and Paul Tisdale, appointed as Celtic’s head of football operations in October 2024, is understood to have been one of his key allies and would not have had strong ties to the hierarchy above.
“It’s understood that when Celtic eventually did end up signing striker Kelechi Iheanacho – who Rodgers worked with at Leicester City – in the summer, non-executive chairman Peter Lawwell and chief executive officer Michael Nicholson were somewhat blindsided as communication with Rodgers was so limited.”
As a pawn in an unsustainable situation at Celtic, Iheanacho may simply have been destined to fail from the start…
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