Kelechi Iheanacho is poised to make his Middlesbrough debut at Sheffield United.
Michael Carrick is optimistic about Kelechi Iheanacho’s potential for Middlesbrough’s attack, citing his eagerness to perform.
Iheanacho joins Boro following a successful career that began in Manchester City’s youth and included seven years at Leicester City. In addition to six years in the Premier League and an FA Cup triumph, he also led the Foxes to Championship promotion last season.
He comes to Teesside with large shoes to fill after Emmanuel Latte Lath’s departure, though. His loan move came after a poor first half of the season at Sevilla, where he made only five La Liga starts and failed to score once. However, Carrick believes that this feeds his need to impress.
“Kel’s got some great experience and pedigree with the level he’s played at over a long, long period,” the Boro manager remarked. “He played against us at the Riverside last season, and while we won that game, I thought he demonstrated his quality and what he can provide.
“He is desperate to play. He’s had a nice demeanour since he arrived and trained well with the boys. He’s desperate to get started.”
Iheanacho’s arrival coincided with Tommy Conway’s return from a hamstring injury sustained on Boxing Day. Until then, the summer addition from Bristol City had been a mainstay in Boro’s starting lineup alongside Latte Lath. Though the Ivorian led Boro’s goalscoring charts at the time of his departure, Conway had a higher goals-per-minute ratio, with the two strikers competing throughout the first half of the season.
Carrick suggested he’ll now employ Iheanacho in the same manner he used Conway, saying: “Throughout the season, we played a lot with Tommy [Conway] and Manu sharing the burden, and when Tommy was fit, the minutes-per-goal ratio was up there with anyone.
“We wish Manu all the best, and I can’t thank him enough for how he handled everything, but things come to an end and you must go on. Tommy is here and plays an important role in what we do, and we’ve now recruited Morgan [Whittaker], Kel, and Sam [Iling-Junior] to round out the team.
“We feel like we’ve strengthened in a different way than one-on-one or like-for-like. Across that frontline, I believe we have a good balance and plenty of choices.
“Not everyone can play at the same time, but I believe we can exploit this to our advantage. The game is gradually evolving in the direction of needing more players, whether to start games or come off the bench at certain points. I think we are in good condition.”
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