The future of Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho remains in the balance.
The 29-year-old was faced with injury obstacles throughout the season, but hit form at the right time to help guide Celtic to a league and cup double.
His winning goal at Dundee in April was the turning point. That was his first goal in six months, and it spurred the Hoops on to clinch silverware after a turbulent season.
The Nigerian would go on to score a winners against Hibs and Motherwell – the most important penalty he’s ever likely to score during that night at Fir Park. He also came off the bench to score in the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline, where he also had one chalked off for offside.
But journalist Michael Gannon has raised doubts over his injury history, and talks of him needing a full pre-season to get fully fit and firing.
Speaking on the Record Celtic podcast, Gannon said:
“The problem is that Iheanacho could [get injured], at any point in time and miss four or six months.
“He had a pre-season at Sevilla last year; he played pre-season games. He didn’t play an awful lot, but he had minutes and he was training.
“But he didn’t really look fit when he arrived.
“It got to a point where [O’Neill] had to hang his hat on him.
“He got him in by default, and he did perform during that last stretch of games.”
Perhaps ‘by default’ is too harsh a description, given Iheanacho clearly showed something in training to warrant his opportunity.
He had to bide his time to end his goal drought, but once he did, he came up in some big season-defining moments.
Gannon continued, saying that for Iheanacho to remain at the Hoops would depend on transfer activity this summer.
“If you get Iheanacho doing that over a season, then absolutely, but can you guarantee that? I’m not sure.
“If they can get two or three strikers lined up, then you say, ‘Thanks Kelechi, you done your job.’ If they haven’t, they’re going to need to sign him.
“They might have to hit the button and keep him, purely as an insurance policy.”
The striker’s end-of-season form surely warrants another year’s contract extension, at the very least?
His fitness needs to improve, but he has come off the bench in big games and changed the dynamic almost instantly.
The title decider against Hearts is another example. Iheanacho shut Cammy Devlin down to allow Celtic to run up the other end, and for Callum Osmand to slot it home to ensure the title remained at Celtic Park.
His mindset cannot be questioned, and given he was spotted doing one-to-one work when many other members of the squad were seen out celebrating soon after the title win, showing he’s eager to get his head down and work to convince the club he’s worthy of keeping on their books.
