Kelechi Iheanacho: Celtic legend says buying Super Eagles star was a mistake

Legendary Celtic midfielder Peter Grant believed his former club made a mistake signing Kelechi Iheanacho instead of young Scottish striker Kieron Bowie from Hibernian. 

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Iheanacho, 29, joined the SPL side as a free agent in the summer. He hit the ground running but has petered out as Celtic have struggled this season.

Celtic are currently second on the log, nine points behind the high-flying Hearts, who could become the first non-Celtic-Rangers team to win the SPL title since the 1984/85 season. 

Celtic's struggles have partly been due to their goalscoring problem: they have scored 16 goals, compared to Hearts' 28. The Bhoys' decision to sign Iheanacho has been blamed for their struggles by Grant. 

They lost two strikers in the past year, first Kyogo Furuhashi, who left for Rennes in January, and then Adam Idah in the summer. Celtic failed to address the need for a new striker until late in the window when they signed Iheanacho on the free agency market. 

Grant believes that their scouting should have led to the acquisition of Bowie instead of Iheanacho, whose presence, in his opinion, upsets the balance of the side. 

“The balance, for whatever reason, (is not right),” said Grant, per 67hailhail. “Scouting is very important. Always has been.

“I still think there were players here in Scotland that you could have made your team better with. There is no doubt in my mind. See on deadline day. I would have made a go for Bowie at Hibs. If you are thinking right, I have lost a striker.

“I am going to pay a few bob for him, because this kid is going to get better. He is strong. He is Scottish, and he can play in the Scottish game. He has proved it. Something like that. You don’t need analytics to tell you this kid could be your goalscorer.”

Meanwhile, Iheanacho's career at Celtic could be at risk after Brendan Rodgers, who sanctioned his signing due to their previous relationship at Leicester City, left the role.