Why Manchester United simply must sign Odion Ighalo
By Duncan Kwok
Former Nigeria star Abdul Sule has suggested that the on-loan Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo should reject a move in favour of Premier League rivals Chelsea or European heavyweights Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Odion Ighalo has provided Manchester United with firepower that was sorely missing for the Red Devils after Marcus Rashford‘s injury. While his goals have mainly come in the Europa League and the FA Cup, it is a testament to his goal-scoring abilities.
To have taken to playing for Manchester United as a duck does to water and relieve the burden on Anthony Martial is truly refreshing to see. He has allowed the Frenchman to be rotated out of the starting line-up and be rested as the race for the Champions League was heating up.
Furthermore, he offers Ole Gunnar Solskajer a different option to Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. He is no dribbling master in the mould of Thierry Henry as Rashford and Martial are often compared to but rather a target man; extremely comfortable in hold-up play similar to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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And just like the mercurial Swede had a massive impact at Old Trafford by offering a different dimension to United, Ighalo has had a similar impact.
The end of the recent Manchester Derby symbolised the impact Ighalo has had on making Manchester United a much more competitive team. He chested a goal kick before deftly flicking it to Luke Shaw which allowed United to relieve the pressure that Manchester City was piling on by simply having the ball in the other half.
His tussle with Fernandinho also got the crowd roaring. He made the Brazilian simply hoof the ball and cede possession to United for fear of losing the ball deep in his own half.
Manchester United simply must snap up Odion Ighalo at the end of his loan spell with the Red Devils. It is imperative in an era of misspending and under-performing players, that Manchester United engage with Shanghai Shenhua, Ighalo’s parent club in negotiations to buy the Nigerian striker.
It is a deal that has been mooted to be around £15 million, a bargain in an age of inflated transfer fees. To put it simply, Ighalo has scored 8 goals and contributed in 318 minutes, that’s a goal around every 40 minutes.
This is whilst Henrik Larsson, the so-called “Loan King” scored 3 goals in 13 matches and at the end of his loan spell at United, Sir Alex Ferguson and United fans were clamouring for the Swede to join United permanently. If that same logic applied in the case of Ighalo, he should already be snapped up by Manchester United
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Odion Ighalo signing for Manchester United in the January transfer window was a surprise out of nowhere and a signing that was mocked by rival clubs, United have an advantage of signing Ighalo because he’s currently having a great time at the Red Devils as well as the fact that he is a Manchester United fan, now they must press home that advantage, sign Ighalo and watch other teams questioning why they didn’t realise the diamond in the rough that is Odion Ighalo.