Manchester United can confirm that Odion Ighalo will join on loan from Shanghai Greenland Shenhua until the end of the season.
Manchester United have signed former Watford striker Odion Ighalo from Shanghai Shenhua on loan until the end of the season.
The deal to bring the 30-year-old Nigeria international to Old Trafford contains no option to buy.
Ighalo, who is still in China but is expected to fly to the UK in the
next few days, scored 39 goals in 99 matches for Watford between 2014
and 2017.
“Odion is an experienced player,” said United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“He will come in and give us an option of a different type of centre-forward for the short spell he’s staying with us.
“A great lad and very professional, he will make the most of his time here.”
Ighalo began his professional career in
his native Nigeria with local clubs Prime and Julius Berger, before
sealing a transfer to Norwegian side Lyn in 2007.
✍ #MUFC
can confirm that Odion Ighalo will join us on loan from Shanghai
Shenhua until the end of the season.
Welcome, Odion!
🔴
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February
1, 2020
A year later, a move to Udinese in Italy
eventually led to loan spells with Granada (twice), Cesena and Watford
in the Premier League.
While at Vicarage Road with the Hornets,
Ighalo impressively scored 40 goals from exactly 100 appearances across
all competitions.
During that time he made three
appearances against United and one at Old Trafford, losing twice and
winning once, while also earning an assist.
Ighalo moved to the Chinese Super League
in 2017, first with Changchun Yatai. After two seasons he moved to
Shanghai Shenhua and has scored 10 times in 19 games.
His form for his country has been
eye-catching, finishing as top scorer in African Cup of Nations
qualifying with seven goals, before scoring five at the tournament
during the summer.
It is understood there was interest from other Premier League clubs but Ighalo wanted to play for United.
He is United’s first senior loan signing since Radamel Falcao’s arrival from Monaco in 2014.
Earlier on Friday, United ended interest
in Bournemouth’s Josh King but did sign Southend United goalkeeper
Nathan Bishop for an undisclosed fee.
United accept Ighalo does not fit the
club’s policy of trying to sign long-term targets, such as Bruno
Fernandes, who moved to Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon on Thursday.
However, this move has been done to
cover the short-term injury to Marcus Rashford and they could not go the
rest of the season without bringing in a replacement.
England international Rashford, 22, is
out with a stress fracture in his back sustained after coming on as a
substitute during the FA Cup third-round replay win against Wolves on 15
January.
Across all clubs in his career so far, Ighalo has scored 131 goals from 322 appearances.
The forward has also earned 35 caps for
Nigeria and scored 16 times, notably finishing as top scorer in the 2019
Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Speaking in 2016, Ighalo admitted that United would be a dream move for him as a lifelong supporter of the Reds.
“They were my team growing up,” he was
quoted. “I loved watching Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke on TV. They were my
idols and playing at Old Trafford has always been a dream.”
‘He turned down Barcelona last year’
BBC World Service’s John Bennett
Back in 2015 after Watford’s promotion
from the Championship, Ighalo was asked where he was most looking
forward to playing in his first Premier League season.
No hesitation: “Old Trafford. It’ll be a
dream come true to play against Manchester United, the team I supported
in my youth”. Little did he know what would happen almost five years
later.
Odion does a huge amount of charity work for people in Nigeria and he’s also still a very talented striker.
It’s a left-field move by United and I’m
also sure that you’ll have read and heard all the negatives so to
balance things out let me give you some positives: Ighalo is a natural
number nine and a natural goalscorer with pace and power.
Barcelona tried to sign him just 12 months ago because they wanted that type of player. He turned them down.
He is a very strong character, too. The
Nigerian got a lot of criticism back home after missing chances when the
Super Eagles were knocked out by Argentina at the last World Cup
(including abuse aimed at his family) but he came back stronger to
finish top scorer not only in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying but also
at the tournament itself, ahead of the likes of Sadio Mane, Mohamed
Salah and Riyad Mahrez.
Ighalo’s proven in the Premier League and will be able to hit the ground running, fitness permitting.
He’ll also be a very popular team-mate who will give his all to be a success at United. Nobody will work harder.
It’s almost like a homecoming, too, as Ighalo’s family has been based in Manchester.
It’s a fairytale move for the United fan
from Lagos. Now let’s see if, not for the first time in his career, he
can prove the doubters wrong.
‘He’s a boyhood fan’
Nigeria football writer Oluwashina Okeleji
Fifteen years after football fans
witnessed the collapse of John Mikel Obi’s transfer to Manchester
United, Nigerians will finally get a chance to see one their own become a
Red Devil. At 30, Odion Ighalo becomes the first Super Eagle to move to
Old Trafford.
Born in a poverty-stricken Lagos ghetto,
Ajegunle, Ighalo is a boyhood fan of United. He watched on TV as his
striking favourites Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole helped them to the treble
in 1999.
Fans in his West African nation closely follow the Premier League, which recruit some of the continent’s best players.
Manchester United has a huge fan base in
Nigeria and many believe Ighalo will be a success at Old Trafford
having retired from international football on a high in 2019.
Ighalo finished as top scorer at the
2019 Africa Cup of Nations before calling time on his international
career at the end of the tournament in Egypt.
He produced seven goals to finish top
scorer in the qualifying and his five goals and one assist helped
Nigeria finish third last summer.
Many expected him to fade away in Asia
after leaving Watford for Chinese Super League (CSL) club Changchun
Yatai. But his pace, instinctive finish and ability to find space has
helped him to relative success in China
Ighalo finished as the 2018 CSL’s
second-top scorer with 21 goals and despite an injury-hit season he
scored 10 goals in 17 appearances for new club Shanghai Shenhua in 2019,
helping them to FA Cup success.