Manchester City to avoid Chelsea mistakes with Kelechi Iheanacho sale

Manchester City are repeatedly out to avoid the mistakes made by their rivals Chelsea in the sale of Kelechi Iheanacho.

The Citizen are open to selling the Nigeria international striker Kelechi Iheanacho but plans to insert a buy-back clause in any deal that will take him away from the club.

West Ham are hopeful they can win the race for the £20million-rated striker but Everton and Leicester are also interested.

City do not want to be left in the same situation as Chelsea, who allowed Romelu Lukaku to leave without inserting an option to buy back the striker at a set price.

Iheanacho has struggled to play under Pep Guardiola, having only started five Premier League games all season.

The Nigerian has previously spoken about his need to play to build his confidence.

West Ham will want any buy-back fee to be at least double what they pay, though City will likely argue it should be closer to the £30m mark or less. The total can vary depending on what Iheanacho achieves at a new club.

Despite that limited opportunity Iheanacho still managed seven goals and three assists, with those strikes coming at an average rate of one every 128 minutes.

With value for money goalscorers, a commodity always cherished by Premier League clubs it is hardly a surprise such a promising forward is in such high demand.

However, Iheanacho recently dismissed any talk of an impending Etihad exit, telling reporters: ‘I’m not very aware of that.

‘I just keep working with the team and I’m still at Manchester City so I’ll meet up with the boys and kick off the season with Manchester City.

‘I’m happy to stay at Manchester City and keep fighting to help them achieve what they want to achieve. Manchester City is a big team and we need to go far as a squad, so we need everybody.’