Former Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho has posted a goodbye message to supporters on social media. The former Leicester City frontman was expected to join the Hoops permanently this summer following a short-term deal with the club in the second half of last season.
Iheanacho had injury issues early on having played sparingly for Sevilla, but he returned to make a palpable impact during the run-in that saw the Hoops win a league and cup double.
Iheanacho regularly made an impact from the bench and provided much-needed experience in the front line, where the Hoops were lacking due to having two struggling loan players. Martin O'Neill said he was interested in signing Iheanacho permanently, even after the club allowed the option to extend the striker's deal to lapse.
O'Neill spoke of the importance of Iheanacho having a full pre-season, but Celtic didn't appear to offer a deal until mid-way through pre-season in what was a strange move considering what O'Neill had said previously.
It was reported that Celtic offered a deal that was heavily reliant upon bonuses in a bid to protect themselves against the threat of injury, and the deal was only said to be one year in length.
Iheanacho was always going to value himself more than that, and when Turkish second tier side Bursaspor came in with a two-year offer, which was later confirmed to be worth £23,000-per-week guaranteed, it was a no-brainer for the striker, who had waited all summer for Celtic.
Iheanacho posts goodbye message to Celtic
While Iheanacho will be disappointed with how things turned out, especially having waited to be offered a Bhoys deal, he is not holding any hard feelings, or at least not publicly, with the striker taking the time to bid farewell to supporters.
 "To The Celtic FC - What we achieved last season was truly incredible, I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity to represent your great football club," the message began.
"My thanks to Brendan Rodgers for bringing me to the football club. Thank you to Martin O’Neill and he’s staff, special thanks to my teammates will miss you guys (crying emoji).
"To the amazing fans, thank you for your unwavering support. I wish you all the very best for the upcoming season and beyond! Love, Kelechi."
Iheanacho will now test himself in the second division of Turkish football, but Bursaspor are a big club in the nation, and they are committing plenty of resources in a bid to win promotion.
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