Iheanacho saga shows how hard it is for youngsters to breakthrough

This time last year, it looked as though the sky was the limit for Kelechi Iheanacho and his Manchester City career.

During the season where he’d just turned 19, the Nigerian managed to bag eight goals in the Premier League and 14 in all competitions – the best of any player under the age of 20.

And to make the feat all the more impressive, he did it for one of the top sides with the league’s best striker at the time – Sergio Aguero – ahead of him in the pecking order.

While the youngster was afforded opportunities as the Argentine missed matches through injury, he undoubtedly made the most of his time on the pitch, averaging a goal every 94 minutes.

City fans and commentators alike were looking forward to seeing how the teenager would develop under Pep Guardiola – a man not only known for creating attacking sides capable of lots of goals, but nurturing young talent.

Fast forward 12 months, however, and things aren’t looking so rosy.

With only five starts to his name under the Spaniard, the Nigerian is on the cusp of being switched out to Leicester City or Tottenham Hotspur if reports are to be believed.

It isn’t for a lack of form either, with the Nigerian still managing nine goals in 631 minutes as he was given small portions of game time here and there.

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It begs the question, what more does a youngster have to do to break into a top side?

Pellegrini’s faith in Iheanacho – even going as far as to play him up top with Sergio Aguero on occasion – was admirable and looked like the way forward for a side that had given few chances to youth in the past.

Yet with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus (also a young talent, it should be noted), there was unfortunately little the Nigerian could do to force his way into Guardiola’s plans. As a result, he appears to be looking for a new club.

Iheanacho is not an isolated case either, with another young talent on the other side of Manchester also struggling to establish himself.

Marcus Rashford enjoyed a similar breakout season to Iheanacho and was Louis van Gaal’s preferred striker towards the end of his reign.

Incoming manager Jose Mourinho seemed to have other plans to blooding the teenager as well and quickly announced established hitman Zlatan Ibrahimovic as his key man.

While Ibrahimovic thrived, it did mean Rashford was often pushed to the wing, where his form suffered.

There seems little hope of him reprising his role up top this year either as the Red Devils spent £75m on Romelu Lukaku to replace  the departing Swede.

It’s a story that is being retold more and more in the modern game, as Lukaku’s path to United came by the way of two loans and a transfer away from the Chelsea side he signed for at a similar age to Iheanacho and Rashford.

That path seems to be the way nowadays, and a move down the ladder would appear to be the only way players like Iheanacho to get the game time they deserve.

Until then, that glass ceiling of potential would appear to lowering for youngsters in the Premier League.