Leicester City have announced the signing of Nigeria starlet Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City today.
The 20-year old forward signed a five-year deal at the King Power Stadium for a fee reported to be €28 million, which makes him surpass Odion Ighalo‘s 7-month record as Nigeria’s most expensive player of all time.
Before Ighalo had the honour of being the most expensive Nigerian player, it was previously held by ex-Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel for eleven years after the Blues splashed out €20m to secure his services from Lyn Oslo.
The third and fourth most expensive transfers involving Nigerian players were completed in the last thirteen months by Leicester City who signed Ahmed Musa and Wilfred Ndidi for €19.5 million and €17.6 million respectively.
Taribo West still holds the record for the costliest Nigerian defender in history spanning 20 years following his €12 million switch from Auxerre to Inter Milan in June 1997.
Current Nigerian Transfer Record (Top 21)
1) Kelechi Iheanacho – Manchester City to Leicester City – €28 million
2) Odion Ighalo – Watford to Changchun Yatai- €23.3m
3) Obi Mikel – Lyn Oslo to Chelsea – €20m
4) Ahmed Musa – CSKA to Leicester – €19.5m
5) Wilfred Ndidi – Genk to Leicester – €17.6m
6) Yakubu Aiyegbeni – Middlesbrough to Everton – €16.5m
7) Obafemi Martins – Inter to Newcastle – €16m
8) Isaac Success – Granada to Watford – €15m
9) Emmanuel Emenike – Spartak to Fenerbahce – €13m
10) Brown Ideye – Dynamo Kiev to Westbrom – €12.63m
11) Austin Okocha – Fenerbahce to PSG – €12.4
12) Taribo West – Auxerre to Inter – €12m
13) Brown Ideye – Olympiakos to Tianjin Teda – €12m
14) Victor Moses – Wigan to Chelsea – €11.5m
15) Anthony Ujah – Werder to Liaoning FC – €11.5m
16) Obafemi Martins – Newcastle to Wolfsburg – €10.5m
17) Sunday Oliseh – Ajax to Juventus – €10m
18) John Utaka – Rennes to Portsmouth – €10m
19) Peter Odemwingie- Lille to Lok Moscow – €10m
20) Finidi George – Ajax to Real Betis – €10m
21) Emmanuel Emenike – Fenerbahce to Spartak – €10m
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