Iheanacho reveals motivation for choosing Bursaspor over Celtic
· Yahoo Sports
Kelechi Iheanacho says he "asked my agent to make sure he does everything possible to make sure I come to Bursaspor" despite being offered a new contract by Celtic.
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The 29-year-old Nigeria striker had signed a one-year contract with Celtic in September having left Sevilla following a loan spell with Middlesbrough.
A deadline for the Scottish champions to extend Iheanacho's contract by a further year lapsed, but Celtic manager Martin O'Neill later revealed that he wanted the forward to stay and that he had been offered a new deal.
However, last week Iheahacho instead joined Bursaspor, who won the TFF Second League last season and are aiming for a second promotion in a row back to the Turkish Super Lig.
In his first interview with his new club, he expressed his happiness and excitement at his move and said: "To be fair, Bursaspor is a big club in Turkey and I had heard that they had previously won the Turkish Super Lig.
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"When I heard about their project, that they wanted to climb up to the Super Lig and also play in Europe, I said that this is a big project and it's very good for me to come and be involved and help the team.
"So I asked my agent to make sure he does everything possible to make sure I come to Bursaspor. My target is for us to go to the Super Lig."
Comparing his new shirt with Celtic's, Iheahacho added: "It's the same green and white, to be fair. I don't know if it's deja vu, like they say in French.
"It's the same shirt, but Celtic is a bit lighter green, Bursaspor is dark green. It's a little bit different, but it's all similar. It's all good."
Responding to reports that Iheanacho had been offered £47,000 per week to join Bursaspor, club president Enes Celik had revealed hewill earn an annual salary of £1.2m (£23,000 per week) and insisted the striker had chosen "the project over the money" offered elsewhere.
Asked about the failure to retain Iheanacho, O'Neill said: ""There are two sides to every particular transfer as there is to every story.
"I thought we had a deal with him at the time, but seemingly that wasn't the case and so he's gone to pastures new."