\u2022 Ighalo added that he had supported United since his youth and that his mother burst into tears when she heard the news.<\/p>\n
\u2022 United, who only had Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial as striking options prior to signing Ighalo due Marcus Rashford\u2019s back injury, are seventh in the league table, six points behind the final Champions League qualifying place.<\/p>\n
Nigerian striker and boyhood Manchester United fan Odion Ighalo has said he agreed to take a pay cut to ensure his move to the Premier League club went through on transfer deadline day.<\/p>\n
United made a surprise swoop for Ighalo before the window shut on January 31, signing the 30-year-old on loan until the end of the season from Shanghai Shenhua after failing to land their prime January target, Norwegian Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n
Ighalo, who scored 16 goals in 35 games for Nigeria before retiring from international football after winning the Golden Boot at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, was at Watford before moving to China but said joining United was a dream come true.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very dramatic,\u201d he told the United website. \u201cMy agent called me the day before and said Man United … A few other clubs had shown interest, I said: \u2018Please, just pick United, if it\u2019s going to be possible\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 11 p.m. in Shanghai, my agent called me (to say) that United want to do the deal… I didn\u2019t sleep throughout that night. There was paperwork, negotiating and all that … So we are talking and other teams are calling them, wanting me, but I told my agent that this is what I want. I want to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said: \u2018You\u2019re going to get a pay cut to go to United\u2019. I said I don\u2019t care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don\u2019t care how much is the pay cut… make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ighalo added that he had supported United since his youth and that his mother burst into tears when she heard the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called my mum and she was happy, crying, \u2018This is your dream and I\u2019m happy for you\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was dramatic. I was very happy that finally we got the deal done.\u201d<\/p>\n
United, who only had Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial as striking options prior to signing Ighalo due Marcus Rashford\u2019s back injury, are seventh in the league table, six points behind the final Champions League qualifying place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 Ighalo added that he had supported United since his youth and that his mother burst into tears when she heard the news. \u2022 United, who only had Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial as striking options prior to signing Ighalo due Marcus Rashford\u2019s back injury, are seventh in the league table, six points behind the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":12634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[174,115],"class_list":["post-21049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-football-in-nigeria","tag-nigerian-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n