Leicester City midfielder, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi has been identified as one of The Foxes’ key players Manchester City will have to ‘cage’ in order to escape unscathed in their English Premier League clash this weekend, megasportsarena.com reports.
Heading into Saturday’s fixture at King Power Stadium, City’s coach, Pep Guardiola singled Ndidi out among the lads his side must be wary of, while also acknowledging the presence of his former protégé, Kelechi Iheanacho, who left Etihad Stadium in 2017.
Ndidi had joined The Foxes just a year before that, and his impact since then has been tremendous, such that Guardiola agrees that the former Racing Genk of Belgium central defender-turned holding midfielder is one of the best in his position.
The 24-year-old, who has a remarkable ability to win and hold possession in the middle of the pack, is in contention to face The Citizens on Saturday and Guardiola is wary of the star, who missed the reverse fixture back in September due to a groin complaint that needed surgery.
Guardiola said during Friday’s press conference: “Justin now is injured now unfortunately, for him especially I am so sorry, but all of them have an amount of quality. Ndidi is doing really well. Tielemans is a top, top class player.”
He also lavished praise on Iheanacho, who is regarded as a homegrown player by the Football Association, as he spent roughly three years at Etihad Stadium, during which time he scored 21 goals and provided eight assists in 64 matches across all competitions before joining Leicester.
Since leaving City, Iheanacho has faced The Citizens seven times in all competitions, of which he has lost six and won just once in the reverse fixture last September, but Guardiola is aware that his former protégé is in the form of his life.
Iheanacho was on Friday named EPL player of the month for March, having scored five goals in three top-flight matches, thereby leaving Guardiola impressed and he went on to give excuses for how why he allowed the UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup gold medalist and most valuable player leave four years ago.
“Incredible. The quality was there, he was a young player here and I believe in that moment with Gabriel and Sergio we didn’t have much space. He is a fantastic person, we had a good relationship together so I’m delighted that it’s going well lately.
“He’s playing for the injured Maddison and of course he links really well with the midfield and he’s good in behind. He’s fast and in the final third he has the right tempo, he’s so clear in front of the goal,” Guardiola submitted.
