Leicester City manager, Brendan Rodgers, has declared that Kelechi Iheanacho is “purely a striker.”
Iheanacho scored his first Premier League goal of the season in Leicester’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday which was also his first start this season.
Rodgers has come under pressure from fans for his use of Iheanacho this season, and the former Liverpool manager has now admitted that he might have to change his shape to accommodate the ex-Manchester City forward in the Foxes starting eleven.
Iheanacho partnered Jamie Vardy in attack on Sunday, and Rodgers revealed that’s the only way to play him as the former can only function as a striker.
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“I feel that he is a player that, over a period of time, he will either create or score a goal,” Rodgers told the media as per The Athletic.
“His energy at the top end of the field posed a threat.”
Iheanacho has scored 16 times while Vardy has scored 17 times in 32 Premier League games they’ve both started together, and Rodgers admits playing the two together is an option he would have to consider.
“He can’t play in another position. He [Iheanacho] is purely a striker. When you play with two strikers, there is then a change behind that.
“That is one of the things I need to look at because of some of the types of players we have: it doesn’t allow us to keep the ball as well as we would like.”
“That is something I need to look at,” Rodgers added.