Everton are reportedly lining up Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho as a potential replacement to Romelu Lukaku should the Belgian leave in the summer
Everton are already sweating at the prospect of losing their star striker Romelu Lukaku this summer and according to the Sun, they have lined up Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho as a possible replacement for the Belgian.
Lukaku has been a regular source of goals for the Toffees and has single-handedly won many games through his individual brilliance. Since his move to Goodison in the summer of 2013, Lukaku has scored a staggering 86 goals from 165 games and assisted 29 others.
The Belgian is top scorer in the English top flight with 24 strikes to his name this season and is the first Evertonian in the Premier League era to record 20+ goals in a campaign. He also surpassed Duncan Ferguson’s tally of 60 goals to become the Toffees highest goalscorer in the English Premier League.
However, with such an imperious scoring record in a league as competitive as in England, its natural for a player in Lukaku’s day and age to be distracted by the attention of bigger clubs and silverware.
At the age of just 24, Lukaku is already one of the most lethal strikers in Europe , therefore, its no surprise clubs are surrounding like vultures in order to secure the player’s signature. The Belgian is being linked with a return to Chelsea aside a possible move to Manchester United.
Everton however have already begun to look out for a replacement should the player head out in the summer and have sounded out Manchester City’s Nigerian starlet Kelechi Iheanacho as a potential replacement.
The 20-year-old did enjoy an impressive start to the season under Guardiola’s reign, but has slipped under the radar since the arrival of Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian with a series of impressive performances aided by his astonishing conversion rate has even threatened to knock Aguero out of the first team.
Hence it’s no surprise that Iheanacho has remained a relative unknown since Jesus’ arrival in January. And with Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling both thriving on the flanks, there seems to be no possible inlet for Iheanacho.
Therefore, the Nigerian may seriously consider a move to Merseyside should there be a distinct lack of playing time at City.
Iheanacho doesn’t need to look beyond Lukaku himself for inspiration to see how such a move would benefit a striker of his ability. Lukaku moved from Chelsea in 2013 in rather similar circumstances and has since thrived at Goodison.
Everton have performed rather decently this season and have often challenged the top establishments in the Premier League. They will be looking to sustain that growth under Ronald Koeman even after Lukaku’s departure, which is why their investment in Iheanacho falls in line with those ambitions.
