New Super Eagles invitee George Ilenikhena is so highly-rated by coach Eric Chelle that he is now seen as the direct replacement for star striker Victor Osimhen.
SCORENigeria can report that the Super Eagles coach is a long-term admirer of the former AS Monaco striker, who is now flying high in Saudi Arabia with Al Ittihad.
“Eric has followed Ilenikhena for some time now and really pushed for the boy to change his international allegiance to Nigeria after he has played for France at U21 level,” a source told SCORENigeria
“You can see that he is on both squads for the AFCON qualifiers as well as the Russia friendly. It’s not an accident because the coach has so much confidence in what he can achieve with Nigeria.
“In the absence of Osimhen, he will be the first striker that Eric will pick to lead the Super Eagles attack.
“And also, he is counting on the boy to lead the attack of the U23s for the Olympic qualifiers in November.”
SCORENigeria checks showed Ilenikhena is a technical, left-footed striker, who goes direct at goal similar to Osimhen.
He was born in Lagos, but left for France at a very young age.
In the summer of 2023, Belgian club Antwerp splashed a record six million euros to sign him from the French second division club Amiens, before he joined Monaco for more than thrice that fee.
He signed for Al Ittihad in February 2026 for 33 million euros.
