Man City seeks Iheanacho’s inclusion in Flying Eagles’ AYC squad

ENGLISH Premier League side, Manchester City, has launched a last-minute move to get Kelechi Iheanacho into Nigeria’s final squad for next month’s African Youth Championship in Senegal, africanfootball.com reports.

  The Barclays English Premier League champions had earlier said that the player would be unavailable for the forthcoming AYC in Senegal due to injury. But the Manchester giants have now made a dramatic U-turn, saying the former Golden Eaglets’ star could be released to join the Flying Eagles for the tournament as he has fully recovered ahead of a mid-March time frame earlier set by the club.

  Flying Eagles’ coach, Manu Garba, and his crew are due to submit a final 21-man squad for the 2015 AYC to CAF by midnight on Thursday.

  The Nigeria U20 team currently has a 28-man provisional squad that includes Belgium-based defender Wilfred Ndidi and Dolphins FC new signing Christian Pyagbara.

  However, Iheanacho has called up Coach Manu Garba to inform him he has recovered from a long-term ankle injury, while expressing his willingness to feature at the AYC.

  The Most Valuable Player at the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup, who followed the team’s recent warm-up matches in Ghana via telephone, told Manu he will even play a match for City reserves on Tuesday.