'A great player' - Lookman's cousin hails Iheanacho as Boro confirm striker's return to Sevilla

Ademola Lookman's cousin, Hazeem Bakre, has paid glowing tribute to Kelechi Iheanacho, describing the 2013 Fifa U17 World Cup Golden Ball winner as 'a great player' following his loan spell at Middlesbrough.

On Friday, Boro confirmed their retained list to the English Football League, with Iheanacho among five players set to return to their parent clubs.

The Nigeria international, who joined from Sevilla in January, departs alongside Mark Travers, Ryan Giles, Sammy Iling-Junior and Ben Doak.

Iheanacho moved to the Riverside Stadium in search of regular playing time after falling out of favour at Sevilla.

The Super Eagles forward featured in 15 Championship matches, scoring once and providing two assists.

Notably, he was involved in all but one of Boro’s games during his loan spell, missing only the 3-1 win at Stoke City.

Middlesbrough youth team forward Bakre, a rising talent himself, has highlighted the striker's impressive goalscoring record over the years.

"Kelechi Iheanacho is a great player. He's someone I’ve always looked up to and watched closely," Bakre told allnigeriasoccer.com.

"He has great goalscoring stats over the years, and I try to replicate things from his game into mine to help me in the nearer future."

Since turning professional, Iheanacho has registered 86 goals and 45 assists in 322 appearances across stints with Manchester City, Leicester City, Sevilla and Middlesbrough.
 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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