City can still be EPL champions –Iheanacho

Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho is still very confident that his club can win the English Premier League this season despite the setbacks they have suffered in the last four weeks. City lost by 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur to fall behind leaders Leicester by six points but the young Nigerian is hopeful that they could still fight back to the top.

The attacker came off the bench to score City’s only goal in the defeat to title challengers Spurs.

Iheanacho told Manchester City Television, “We will close the gap (between us and front runners). We were very disappointed we lost, no one is happy, but we will come back stronger.

“We will put this defeat behind us and keep going for the next games. We will work hard and concentrate on every game.”

The shock defeat at home on Sunday pushed City down to fourth in the table.

The player is expected to featur in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier billed against Egypt in Kaduna. The match was moved by the weekend to March 26 at the request of Nigeria from the original March 23 date.

Meanwhile, in the USA, Seattle Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey has said Obafemi Martins’ transfer to China has not been finalised.

The GM also confirmed that Martins was not with the club at their training camp in Walnut, California, and that there was interest in the Nigerian forward from a Chinese club.

Lagerwey said, “It could take a while to have that resolved. And there’s really nothing we can add at this point.”

He said that the club should be able to confirm more details in the coming days of the Nigerian’s move to China.

“We’ll do what we need to do, we have contingency plans. If that third DP spot opens up, it gives us a lot more roster flexibility and the ability to implement our long-term vision for this team,” he said.

All of this makes Martins’ departure sound rather certain, but Lagerwey dangled the possibility that the deal could fall through, “If it doesn’t, then we’ll have Obafemi Martins back and that’ll be a good thing, too.”