Boyhood Manchester United fan secures dream Old Trafford move

 

Manchester United have wrapped up a loan deal for Shanghai Shenhua striker Odion Ighalo with an official announcement expected in the coming days, claims Sky Sports.

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side faced a race against the clock to get a deal for Ighalo done before the 23:00 GMT deadline due to the time differences between China and the UK.

 

Ighalo turned down late interest from Tottenham in order to secure a move to United, whom he has supported all of his life.

 

United will only cover a fraction of Ighalo's eye-watering £300,000-a-week wages for the remainder of the season and do not have an option to make his move permanent.

 

The deal will cost United £4m in total and Solskjaer believes Ighalo will help fill the void left by Marcus Rashford, who is sidelined for three months with a stress fracture in his back.

 

Ighalo returns to the Premier League for the first time since leaving Watford for China in 2017 and could make his debut for United against Chelsea on February 17.

 


The 30-year-old scored 46 goals in 76 league appearances in China spread across spells at Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Shenhua.

 

Ighalo was a revelation during his first season at Watford with 15 goals in 37 league appearances and was requested by Louis van Gaal during his time as United manager.

 

However, his second season wasn't quite so impressive with just one goal in 18 league games before leaving the Hornets after just 18 months at the club.