George Ilenikhena: Antwerp wonderkid models his game after Erling Haaland

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It was December 13, 2023, when a dream came true for George Ilenikhena. That day, one day before he was featured in the Talents Calendar, the Royal Antwerp center-forward scored his first ever Champions League goal against Barcelona. At 17 years, three month and 27 days, he became the youngest Frenchman in the history of the Champions League and European Cup history. Ilenikhena is even younger than PSG super talent Warren Zaïre-Emery, who also scored his first Champions League goal on Wednesday against Dortmund.

A test of fire that was especially prestigious as it was against the Catalonian giants with Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gündogan, and João Cancelo, who all had won the Champions League in the past. Just a few months ago, Ilenikhena played in Ligue 2. “I played against players, who I previously only watched on television,” Ilenikhena said to Transfermarkt. “It was unbelievable.”

Ilenikhena joined Antwerp from Amiens SC in the summer after having played less than a season (17 games) for his academy club. “The project in Antwerp appeared to be a perfect fit for him to make the next step,” his agent Mickael Libong said. “The Belgian league is on the way up. We could have also picked the Bundesliga, but there he would have been the fourth or fifth striker on the depth chart, and that would have made things more complicated. When you have played in Ligue 2, it is important to go one step at a time.”

The presence of sporting director Marc Overmars and head coach Mark van Bommel was also a big reason, as both have played for major Dutch clubs—Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, respectively—known for their talent development. “They have developed know-how with young players,” Libong said. “When we looked at the squad, we saw the work they had done with Willian Pacho and Arthur Vermeeren.” The former was signed from Ecuador in January 2022 and sold this summer to Eintracht Frankfurt; the latter was developed in the academy and is now a Belgian national team player as well as the most valuable player in the Jupiler Pro League.

“For me, Belgium is a stepping stone,” Ilenikhena said. “I said to me that young and successful players explode there. But first, I must develop and collect experience.” The young forward had to find a way in a team full of confidence that, just weeks before his arrival, won the Belgian championship with success.

Even though he is yet to start in the league, Ilenikhena has scored four goals in his last four games. “I develop from game to game,” Ilenikhena said. “I am a bit shy. When I first started, I never wanted to lose the ball and tried to avoid risks. Now I am trying to go more often into one-v-on dribbles and to provoke mistakes.”

On his way up to professional football, Ilenikhena, who wears the no.9, has been inspired mostly by Erling Haaland. “He is my role model,” Ilenikhena said. “He always wants to score and is always in the right position.” When it comes to his own strengths, the 185cm tall and 76kg heavy forward mentions his athletic abilities, determination to score a goal and mentality. “But I am only at the beginning,” Ilenikhena said. “I still have to improve my heading and my weaker foot.”

Altogether, Ilenikhena has scored eight goals in 481 minutes. Ilenikhena has been happy with his current goalscoring rate. “My goal is to score ten goals,” Ilenikhena said when asked how many goals he wants to score this season. “And once I get those, I will see if I can achieve more. I am very ambitious and have high goals for myself and will always continue to work.”

From December 1 to 24, we introduce new players from different countries born in 2006 and 2007. Area managers, users, and data scouts come into play as experts throughout the series. You can follow all those players by adding them to your TM watchlist.