By Hope Ejairu

Nigerian forward, George Ilenikhena has been one of the most talked about players from the first rounds of games in the 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League.

Ilenikhena, 18, attracted interests from football aficionados after scoring the winner (2-1) for Monaco against Barcelona in the 71st minute after replacing Breel Embolo a minute before the hour mark.

Now that the youngster has made a name for himself in the biggest club football competition, here are seven (7) things to know about him:

7 things to know about AS Monaco forward George Ilenikhena

Born in South West, Lagos

Ilenikhena was born in Southwestern State, Lagos, Nigeria, however, he departed the country for France at the age of 3.

Nigeria eligibility

While George Ilenikhena is still eligible to play for Nigeria, it is pertinent to note that he represented the U-16 team of France in 2021.

Professional Contract

He signed his first professional contract with Amiens in Ligue 2 ( French second division) for the 2021/2022 season.

AS Monaco Stint

The forward joined AS Monaco in the 2024 summer transfer window, having spent the previous season with Royal Antwerp in the Belgian Pro League, scoring 14 goals in 49 matches across all competitions.

23 career goals

He has amassed 23 goals in 82 matches in his club career thus far, spanning Amiens B, Amiens, Royal Antwerp and Monaco respectively.

Youngest Scorer

He broke Kylian Mbappe’s record with his goal against Barcelona, becoming Monaco’s youngest goalscorer (18 years and 34 days) in the UEFA Champions League. Mbappe held the record for 7 years, achieving the feat at 18 years and 63 days in 2017.

Barcelona’s unbeaten spoiler

He also ended Barcelona’s unbeaten run for the new season, with the Hansi Flick’s side going into the game on Thursday night with five games unbeaten in the LaLiga, thus 15 points out of possible 15 – and won the Player of the Match Award.

Vanguard News