Kelechi Iheanacho could miss Olympics to prove worth to Pep Guardiola
Sunday 3 July 2016 16:46, UK
Kelechi Iheanacho could miss the Olympics to prove his worth to new Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola.
The 19-year-old scored 14 goals for City last season despite not being a regular starter and will again compete with Sergio Aguero and Wilfried Bony for game time in Guardiola's maiden campaign with the club.
Iheanacho was included in the Nigeria's 35-man provisional squad for the Games last month, along with fellow Premier League players such as Odion Ighalo, Alex Iwobi and John Obi Mikel.
However, with the tournament beginning on August 3, Iheanacho would miss City's pre-season preparations in Asia and the first few weeks of new boss Guardiola's reign were he to head to Rio with his international colleagues.
"It's up to the club and country to decide what is going to happen," he said.
"If your country wants you to play, you really want to go and play as well. (But) It's not my intention to decide."
Guardiola put his faith in several young players during his successful time at Barcelona, notably Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Pedro, and Iheanacho is hopeful he can benefit from a similar strategy.
"He's a great manager and he's done a lot for other clubs in previous seasons," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "He's going to do the same for our team.
"I'm looking forward to working with him and he's used young players in different teams so I don't think Manchester City will be an exception.
"I think he's going to do the same here and I can't wait to work with him. It was great working with a great manager last season and it was great to be brought through to the first team.
"This season I will have to work even harder to get my chance to play again."
