I Am Living My Dream Playing With Yaya Toure – Iheanacho

Kelechi Iheanacho

Manchester City and Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Kelechi Iheanacho has said that playing alongside Ivorian superstar Yaya Toure after having watched him play for Barcelona in the Spanish League when he (Iheanacho) was a young boy is a dream come true.

Iheanacho told Daily Mail UK in an interview published on Saturday that he is a young man who is fortunate to be living his dream of playing alongside his hero. Iheanacho said he watched the Spanish league because he never had enough money saved to watch the English Premier League at viewing centres in his village in Imo State.

“Sometimes I watched the Spanish league — it was a bit cheaper, maybe 30 naira. But the Premier League was 50. Sometimes I’d watch the Premier League if I found the money, or I’d go there and beg them to let me in. Or sneak in for the second half and pay half the money.

“I support Barcelona because I watched the Spanish league. I saw Yaya [Toure] playing for Barcelona… and now I’m playing with him. It’s a dream come true.

“I have to be my own man but he is a big influence in Africa. He has done a lot in Africa and I hope to do that as well.”

Iheanacho who says he is greatly inspired by his Nigerian role model, Nwankwo Kanu says since he was given the opportunity to play on Man City’s first team, he has never looked back.

Kelechi Iheanacho at Manchester City training ground. Photo: Daily Mail UK

“We didn’t have the money,” he says. “Maybe after the game I’d hear the scores and all that. I’d be at home playing football and my friends would come back after being there to tell me. We didn’t have a television at home.”

One thing that motivates Iheanacho to be his best, he says are the memories of his late mother who died in 2013.

“It was hard for us when my mother left us. We couldn’t do anything so I said to myself “move on and keep working hard”.

“She makes me work harder. When I’m not doing something right, or when I’m not playing or working hard enough, then I remember her. She pushed me to work hard.

“There are jobs [back home] but football has always been with me. When I was growing up they didn’t want me to do it because my mother was a teacher — they wanted me to go to school. But I love football and wanted to play — they wanted to stop me but couldn’t.

From a young boy in an obscure village to a superstar in an internationally recognized league, Iheanacho admits that his story has changed greatly.

“It’s amazing when you go back home now, when you remember how you were before. You go back home and all those people are calling your name, shouting. I get mobbed by the kids. They want to see you, want to know you.”