Pimienta Explains Why Iheanacho Was an Unused Substitute During Sevilla vs Espanyol
- Sevilla played a 1-1 draw against Espanyol at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on January 25, 2025
- Kelechi Iheanacho was named on the substitutes bench but did not play a part in the fightback home draw
- Head coach Garcia Pimienta has opened up on why the Super Eagles forward was an unused substitute
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Sevilla head coach Garcia Pimienta has had a lot to say about Kelechi Iheanacho recently as the Super Eagles forward continues to struggle at the Spanish club.
Iheanacho moved to Seville as a free agent in the summer after turning down multiple contract offers from Leicester City after seven successful years at the King Power Stadium.
Source: Getty Images
The grass hasn't been greener on the other side as the versatile forward is struggling in Spain and midway through the first season, he is already a candidate to exit the club.
He has failed to adapt and his performances mean he is having limited time to prove himself, which has made it a more complicated situation for the former Manchester City star.
Pimienta explains why Iheanacho didn't play
Sevilla played a 1-1 draw against Espanyol at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on January 25, 2025 and Iheanacho did not feature and remained on the bench.
Speaking at his post-match conference, Pimienta shed light on why he did not give minutes to the Nigerian forward.
“A bit of everything,” he said when asked why Iheanacho did not play, as quoted by Futbol Fantasy. “But also at the time of the match we were putting the opponent under pressure and we needed people who had minutes.
“Peque came on from the start, Kelechi has only trained this week. After Christmas, he had some discomfort, as he said, in the hamstring, he had not participated and we needed people with minutes.
“Peque, who had participated a bit more, then Vargas was in there for a while, and when we made the change for Vargas, so did Antonetti, who is having continuity in the reserve team, who had more minutes, we counted on him.”
“It is also true that Kelechi is in a difficult situation at the moment and that is why I preferred another teammate to come on before him,” he concluded.
As noted by Transfermarkt, Iheanacho has featured in nine of 21 league games this season accumulating 401 minutes. He has been left out of the squad three times and was an unused substitute nine times and has never played the full 90 minutes.
Iheanacho's compatriot Chidera Ejuke, who also joined the club in the summer returned from injury and earned praise from the manager.
“I think Ejuke was good. He was involved, he shot from outside. Little by little he will get to his best level. And that's how we're doing.”
Pimienta responds to Finidi George
Legit.ng reported that Pimienta responded to Finidi George after the former Super Eagles head coach accused him of disrespecting Iheanacho.
The Spanish manager claimed he has not disrespected the Nigerian forward and shed light on the player’s situation with open-mindedness that he could leave the club.
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Source: Legit.ng
