In a flash of events, in a manner that no one saw in the script, Super Eagles striker, Kelechi Iheanacho completed his move to La Liga club Sevilla as a free agent on Wednesday.
Iheanacho became a free agent earlier this summer after he was released by Leicester City, to end a seven-year romance.
The 27-year-old has spent most of his professional football life in England. He moved to Manchester City in 2015, after his exploits at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he won the Golden Ball award for player of the tournament and helped Nigeria win the competition.
He was linked with several clubs in the Premier League such as Aston Villa, Ipswich Town. However, the former Fox decided to move across several borders to move to the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium. He will link up with compatriot Chidera Ejuke who also moved to the club this summer in a similar fashion as a free agent.
Iheanacho may have bowed out of the English topflight at least for now but he left some marks that will become points of reference now and in the near future.
Consequently, we take a look at the records and milestones Iheanacho will be targeting in the Spanish La Liga in his first season.
Top Nigerian scorer in debut season
One of the records Iheanacho will always be remembered for in England is his achievement in the FA Cup. Iheanacho has 18 goals in 24 FA Cup games for Manchester City and Leicester City which is the most by any African player, surpassing the previous record held by Didier Drogba, who scored 12 goals in 29 games for Chelsea.
Now, he has the opportunity to become Nigerian topscorer in his very first season in the Spanish topflight. He could surpass the achievements of Odion Ighalo, Obafemi Martins and Victor Ikpeba Umar Sadiq.
Ighalo has a very impressive record in his professional career but he could only manage six goals in 30 matches in his debut season, in the colours of Granada.
Martins also netted six goals in his debut season, which was in the 2012/13 campaign at Levante. Legendary Ikpeba only featured in three matches without a goal in his first season in the league at Real Betis.
Sadiq found the back of the net three times in his debut season with Almeria and Sociedad before the unfortunate injury while Samuel Chukwueze scored five times in his debut season.
Top Nigerian scorer in a season
The Nigerian international has the chance to be the highest-scoring Nigerian in a season on record.
With the high level of competition in the records among Nigerian players in the Premier League, seven goals could be sufficient to see Iheanacho hit this record in Spain, surpassing Ighalo and Martins’ goal record.
Join Martins to score on debut
Iheanacho could become the second Nigerian player to score on his debut in a La Liga game. Martins scored on his debut for Levante against Real Madrid. Sadiq, Ikpeba, Ighalo and Chukwueze, however, failed to score on their debuts.
Become first Nigerian to net brace or hat-trick on debut
History could also await Iheanacho by becoming the first Nigerian to score a brace or hat-trick in the Spanish topflight when the 2024/25 season kicks off this month.
Goal machines like Ighalo, Ikpeba and Martins failed to reach this milestone. With some sound bites of what Iheanacho did in England, he is capable of accomplishing this landmark.
Nigerian with highest assist in a La Liga season
Alex Iwobi shared the Nigerian highest assist record of 29 in the Premier League with Nwankwo Kanu and Iheanacho could create a piece of history in the Spanish league this season.
Martins registered three assists on his debut season in the La Liga while Chukwueze registered two. Sadiq had none in his aborted season as well as Ikpeba and Ighalo.
Super Eagles attacker, Iheanacho sometimes plays as a second striker and this could possibly position him to create this history.
