Leicester City hero Emile Heskey has insisted that Kelechi Iheanacho cannot step into the shoes of Jamie Vardy and fears that the Foxes would struggle if the former England international suffers an injury or calls time on his career.

Heskey is advising the leadership of the King Power Stadium outfit to start looking for a replacement for Vardy and reckons that the youth team players would not be able to fill the void if the Leicester City number 9 departs.

Vardy is considered as one of the top strikers in the Premier League, with a goal involvement of 200 (143 goals, 57 assists) in 330 appearances since joining Leicester City in 2012.

"When Vardy doesn't play you see a difference in the way they play and effectiveness of them going forward," Heskey said on Premier League Productions after Leicester City's 2-0 win vs Chelsea on Tuesday night.

"They haven't quite found someone who could actually fill that gap and this is what they are going to be looking at."

Heskey added : "Can Iheanacho be that next player, I can't see it so they have to go and get someone else.

"I don't know if there is any youth players that can actually take up that mantle now and play them in certain games so they have to go and look out for a new Jamie Vardy".

This season, Iheanacho has made eight appearances as a substitute in the Premier League, replacing Jamie Vardy in half of those games - against Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Chelsea.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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