Why Odion Ighalo is perfect for Manchester United

Ighalo: The deal is done and Manchester United now have options with strikers. Having Bruno Fernandes, Odion Ighalo, Martial and Jesse Lingard, while the Red Devils highest goal scorer, Marcus Rashford takes time to heal.

Although, many are of the opinion that Ighalo is not perfect for Manchester United, and that the team needs a smarter attacker, quite better than Ighalo.

But CitySports believes that certain factors which will be highlighted later in this article make Ighalo a perfect signing for the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer side.

Manchester United became desperate for strikers when Rashford susatin back injury that will sideline him for at least three months, Paul Pogba and McTominay have been sidelined for months as well, so the need to beef up midfield and forward becomes inevitable.

The likes of Raul Jimenez, Edinson Cavani and Danny Ings have all been linked with moves to Old Trafford in recent weeks, but some surprise names also began to crop up as the winter transfer deadline edged ever closer. Eventually, Ighalo emerged the deadline day surprise deal.

In this article, CitySports takes a look at some of the cogent factors that make Ighalo the perfect summer signing for United.

1. Odion Ighalo knows the Premier League, has scored goals in the top flight and arrives at Old Trafford in good form. He has the sort of turn of pace which will fit in well to the style of football Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is trying to play.
2. He has quick feet, you won’t find too many defenders outpacing him over the first five yards, and with United keen to play with a pacey front three, he certainly fits that billing more closely than Romelu Lukaku
3. The Nigerian is certainly not of the calibre of many of United’s forward signings even in recent years, but after a 14 -goal haul during his one full top-flight season at Vicarage Road, he was linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs in far more glowing terms
4. The striker finished as top scorer in African Cup of Nations qualifying for Nigeria with seven goals, before scoring five at the tournament last summer.
5. Whether he can prove an effective stop-gap for United looks far from certain but the 30-year-old does have some positive signs on his side. And even if it all falls flat, he’s due to return to Shanghai Shenhua at the end of the season anyway – with little to lose for Solskjaer or the player himself.

After a successful negotiations on deadline day, Ighalo will arrive at Old Trafford on a short-term deal in the coming days with Solskjaer excited to add to his attack. Ole said and we quote

“Odion is an experienced player. 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,” he said. 

“A great lad and very professional, he will make the most of his time here.”

Ighalo, a childhood fan of the Red Devils, played for Watford between 2014 and 2017, scoring 20 goals in 30 Championship appearances to help the team gain promotion during his first full season at the club.

He transferred that form into the Premier League the following campaign, contributing 15 goals to the Hornets’ cause as they successfully avoided the drop.
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