Premier League 2017/18: 5 summer signings who haven't lived up to expectations

#2 Kelechi Iheanacho

Kelechi Iheanacho just can't seem to break into Leicester's starting lineup

After surprisingly winning the Premier League in 2015/16, Leicester City found it hard to truly attract top players to the King Power Stadium for the following season. Their most expensive signing, Islam Slimani at £28m, didn’t really pay off and 2016/17 saw them slip back to a mid-table position.

It was clear that they needed strengthening going into 2017/18 and so they made a couple of big signings in defender Harry Maguire and young striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who set them back £25m from Manchester City.

While Maguire has hit the ground running and now finds himself in the England squad, it’s been the total opposite for Iheanacho. When he was at Manchester City, despite having the best goals-to-minutes ratio in the entire Premier League in 2015/16, the young Nigerian was primarily used as a substitute.

He must’ve expected to be a first-choice striker for Leicester but instead, he’s found himself back in his familiar spot, unable to break into the first team due to the partnership between Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki.

Vardy appears to be back to his 2015/16 form – he’s already got 5 goals in 6 Premier League games – while Okazaki’s also been scoring too, bagging 3 in 5 in the league. What this means for Iheanacho is that he’s been reduced to just three appearances as a substitute thus far and unless an injury sidelines one of the two strikers ahead of him, he may struggle for game time throughout the year.

Admittedly, he suffered from a nagging toe injury earlier in the season, but Leicester clearly didn’t pay £25m for a benchwarmer, nor did Iheanacho move to play the same role he was playing at Man City.

Something needs to change for the Nigerian, and fast.