Ighalo’s Man Utd Move; A Festered Love Affair?

Last January, when Odion Ighalo joined Manchester United from Chinese club, Shanghai Shenhua, his arrival was greeted by fireworks and excitement by Nigerians and Manchester United fans alike.

The buzz surrounding Ighalo’s Manchester United move however, was not merely a function of the move itself, the Nigerian was already doing some impressive numbers at Old Trafford which caused many to extrapolate what was expected to be quite a glittering career with Manchester United.

With the attacking trio of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood, it was already clear that Ighalo was not expected to take centre stage in United’s last gasp attempt to make the top four ahead of the likes of Chelsea, Wolves and Leicester City; even though the torrent of final fixtures occasioned by the compulsory coronavirus break provided an opportunity to get more game time since the fixtures were coming thick and fast.

Not-withstanding the flurry of fixtures in the final exchanges of the 2019/2020 season, United manager, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer had kept faith in his preferred attacking trio, which left very little chance for the Nigerian marksman.

As observed by Eko Hot Blog, despite being awarded limited game time, Ighalo’s fortunes seemed to continue to soar, as the former Watford man made himself at home with the FA Cup and Europa League competitions, notching some impressive numbers which made his parent club quickly move to cement their ownership by rewarding his upped game with a brand new contract worth £400,000 a week.

Then came the dilemma, continue playing at the highest level of European football with Manchester United (who at this time were exploring the option of extending his loan deal), or go back to China and enjoy a wage package many superstars in Europe only dream of.

It was a dicey situation at best, especially putting Ighalo’s age into context. Many had felt that at 31, the striker had nothing to prove at the highest level anymore, and that moving to secure his pension may have been a wiser alternative.

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Dice rolled, Ighalo elected to extend his Manchester United contract, choosing glory over fortune. Today, all the buzz that surrounded Odion Ighalo’s Manchester United move has quickly dissipated like mist on winter’s noon. The striker has found competition for places even more difficult to come by.

Of course, it didn’t also help that the club, already having Ighalo as back up, moved to bring in free agent, Edinson Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain, an addition which more or less sealed the Nigerian’s fate.

For Ighalo, the decision to remain at Manchester United may be fraught with far more damaging consequences than meets the ordinary eye. To begin with, with the consequent decline in his fortune, the Lagos born attacker would be lucky to even secure a return to Shanghai much less with a bumper wage package he was offered less than 10 months ago.

There is also the matter of his Manchester United legacy, which could have been etched maybe not in gold, but perhaps silver in the wake of his early performances for United. But now, having failed to leave the stage when the ovation was high, the Nigerian’s Manchester United legacy may very well go down as another one of Africa’s top talents who failed to hack it in England’s premium football division.