’Seniorman’ Iheanacho credits his Nigerian pal Ndidi for helping him settle

Having a best mate in your club is always good, especially if you are a new player and thing are not as smooth as they might be. So, when Kelechi Iheanacho arrived to Leicester from Manchester City in 2017, it surely helped he had his buddy Wilfred Ndidi, who arrived from Genk only a few months later to help him out.

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The pair already knew each other while playing with Nigeria’s Under-17 side, and this reunion was very helpful for the striker, as he spoke about enjoying his time with Ndidi.  

„We’ve been really close for a long time, since the Under-17s until now. He’s really funny and he cracks me up every single time. He helps me a lot. Most importantly during my trying times, he really helped me a lot, he talks to me and he is always there, in training and at home. He used to come to mine, and I used to go to his, before lockdown. He speaks to me a lot so we are really close like that. He said he wasn’t surprised that I’m scoring goals because he always believed it was going to happen. He is really a good friend of mine“ said the Nigerian for LCFC Live.

Ndidi even came up with the nickname for Iheanacho, calling him „Seniorman“ which became widely accepted in their homeland.

„That’s what players from Nigeria who play in Europe are called when they come back to the country, everyone calls them Seniorman. That’s where that came from and he brought it up and now everyone calls me Seniorman. It’s a lot in the country now. People don’t really call me by my name anymore, it’s like they have forgotten it, people just call me Seniorman. Even the older people, it’s quite funny" explained Leicester forward.

Being a striker means a lot of pressure, as the position brings a lot of joy to supporters, but it can also be a source for frustration, as Iheanacho found out the hard way. The Nigerian didn’t start well in the new club and finished the 2018-19 season with just two goals. During that season, Iheanacho’s appearances as a substitute were met by boos from sections of the fans.

The striker described the experience of being jeered by the club’s own supporters as “draining” but said he never lost faith that his career would turn a corner.

“As a player you face trials in your football career,” he told the BBC earlier this month. “It came at that time for me. It’s draining in that position as a player, but I’m always a happy boy and I’m always working hard. I was really strong mentally to keep training hard and not to lose my mind, to focus, to help the team to achieve the goal that the team wants, so that was the most important thing. I had faith in God that one day it was going to be fine, something was going to work out for good. It is working out now, so I thank God for that. I will keep working hard to help the team“ the Nigerian he told the BBC earlier this month.