Odion Ighalo: Manchester United player on loan until the end of the season

horsechoker

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I reckon the reports of the Chinese club desperately wanting him back are wide of the mark.

Given the current global situation, you'd think they'd be keen to get his inflated wages off their books and confident that they could get another player of equal standing in for half the outlay.
I think they'll look at this as an opportunity. Igalho can raise his profile here which they can market in China and sell more tickets and merchandise.
 

Nytram Shakes

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What do we do after Ighalo and his loan deal expires
Hopefully, Greenwood will have proved reliable by then. And we also have Sanchez.... who let's face it is gonna be around as with all the losses in football no one is going to take him off our hands even if contribute to his crazy wages(which most people said was a bargain when we signed him and slagged off those of us who said it was stupid).
 

el3mel

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Hopefully, Greenwood will have proved reliable by then. And we also have Sanchez.... who let's face it is gonna be around as with all the losses in football no one is going to take him off our hands even if contribute to his crazy wages(which most people said was a bargain when we signed him and slagged off those of us who said it was stupid).
He'll have to drop his high wages at one point thanks to his performance and lack of contribution to the team. I'm sure we'll be able to get rid of him once and for all come next Jan.
 

UpWithRivers

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The reason we signed him in the first place was because we sold Lukaku and failed to sign a replacement ending up in a complete balls up of lack of strikers and scrambling at the last minute for a replacement. So now we sign the replacement and end up in the exact same situation in january? how does that make sense?
 

Maluco

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Very wary that this is a cheap option in a position where we could do with some real quality and a natural first teamer in that position.

Willing to without judgement until we see what else is done over the summer though.
 

Nytram Shakes

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He'll have to drop his high wages at one point thanks to his performance and lack of contribution to the team. I'm sure we'll be able to get rid of him once and for all come next Jan.
He doesn't have to drop his wages. he has 2 years of this contract left, he is literally under no obligation to drop his wages. Personally I think the only way he is leaving is if we supplement about 75% of his wages.
 

Garry Buck

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Great to have him for the rest of the season and part of next!

It’s great to have players like him and Fernandes who love the club and have a fantastic attitude.
 

Tony247

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Now keep Pogba, sign Sancho and sell lingard for real money. Combined that would be a great summer transfer.

Another AM would be icing on the cake.
 

MyOnlySolskjaer

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What do we do after Ighalo and his loan deal expires
It's a big 6 months for Greenwood to develop - being an understudy to Martial. Then we reassess the following Summer if he's not ready. I think it's sensible though considering the way he's progressing thus far.

Think this is very shrewd business on our part.
 

SadlerMUFC

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Not sure how I feel about this. If it means we aren't going after a striker then I don't like it and would prefer that his loan was just extended to the end of the season so we could go after someone younger. But if it means that we have more squad depth and we are going after Sancho and a striker then Im all for it...
 

MyOnlySolskjaer

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Not sure how I feel about this. If it means we aren't going after a striker then I don't like it and would prefer that his loan was just extended to the end of the season so we could go after someone younger. But if it means that we have more squad depth and we are going after Sancho and a striker then Im all for it...
With contracts/contract extensions, there has to be an end-date. I don't think it's sensible putting a date in the contract that could be too early when it's not even clear when the transfer window will be. January is probably the safest move.
 

yan man utd

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This story about Ighalo, from a fan until a United player, warms my heart.

Seeing the caf backing him also made me so happy.

There's faith in caf, love it.
Totally
No substitute for the motivation of a fan - and so far he has more than proven himself and super professional. Would take him over lukaku any day!
 

RedPed

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Very wary that this is a cheap option in a position where we could do with some real quality and a natural first teamer in that position.

Willing to without judgement until we see what else is done over the summer though.
4 goals in 5 starts. What more quality do you need? Are you conflating real quality with a fancy name?
 

yan man utd

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4 goals in 5 starts. What more quality do you need? Are you conflating real quality with a fancy name?
Exactly... it’s competition for places and martial, Greenwood and rashord all need games. We have plenty of games to play and Odion looks like the kind of guy who is happy to just come in when necessary with a determined approach and without fuss
He’s shown he is a no nonsense determined striker (Silky skills too!) who comes alive in the box and can show our young strikers a thing or two. I’m delighted
 

AndyMUFC

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Glad he's staying for a bit. It's more another body that we need to fill in as a striker rather than someone world class when we have Martial, Greenwood and Rashford and Ighalo has been perfect at that so far.

Save the money for a winger and a midfielder.
 

Maluco

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4 goals in 5 starts. What more quality do you need? Are you conflating real quality with a fancy name?
Not at all. His goals have come against the likes of Derby and Brugge. It isn’t proof of any sort of higher quality than what we already have.

I understand how popular he is because he is so happy to be here and loves the whole experience. That is very endearing.

I just feel like we needed a starting number 9, not a backup option who can step in when required. We might still get that, who knows.

Ighalo isn’t going to be the signing that bridges any gap between the top teams in the league, so I think it’s normal to be wary.

If, and that’s a big IF, he is the only attacking addition in the summer, it stinks of penny pinching and is the substandard recruitment that has contributed to our current position.

If he comes in purely for his experience and moral and is happy to come off the bench for better players, that is fine. I don’t think Martial should be a given as the number 9 though.

It’s wait and see, but it’s definitely not wrong to be slightly wary at this stage.
 

RUCK4444

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Not at all. His goals have come against the likes of Derby and Brugge. It isn’t proof of any sort of higher quality than what we already have.

I understand how popular he is because he is so happy to be here and loves the whole experience. That is very endearing.

I just feel like we needed a starting number 9, not a backup option who can step in when required. We might still get that, who knows.

Ighalo isn’t going to be the signing that bridges any gap between the top teams in the league, so I think it’s normal to be wary.

If, and that’s a big IF, he is the only attacking addition in the summer, it stinks of penny pinching and is the substandard recruitment that has contributed to our current position.

If he comes in purely for his experience and moral and is happy to come off the bench for better players, that is fine. I don’t think Martial should be a given as the number 9 though.

It’s wait and see, but it’s definitely not wrong to be slightly wary at this stage.
Whilst I am happy and have posted to confirm I was happy Ighalo is remaining I do tend to agree with you.

I've posted recently that I feel Martial will fail to do it over the course of a season and my worry is putting too much pressure on a young Greenwood. That's why I'm happy Ighalo is staying to help ease that pressure on the kid.

But the fact remains we need a better, more consistent no. 9 than Martial to bridge the gap going forward. Unless goals are coming from everywhere which would be great, we still need a guaranteed 25+ goals a season forward like our rivals. Hopefully Greenwood is that striker in years to come.
 

el3mel

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He doesn't have to drop his wages. he has 2 years of this contract left, he is literally under no obligation to drop his wages. Personally I think the only way he is leaving is if we supplement about 75% of his wages.
I don't think he's one of those players that will enjoy setting on the bench barely playing while taking his wages only. I think he wants to play, and for that he'll have to drop his wage demands and move on to other club imo.
 

Nikelesh Reddy

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Delighted that he’s staying until January...He gets us something different and he lets us play in a completely different way....He will definitely be a useful player over the course of these 6 months...
 

Tom Cato

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People should take into account what this loan deal means for Ighalo. We all know that he loves the club. But him being on loan means that he's going to play absolutely lights out every chance he gets if there is the possibility of a contract at the end of the loan spell.

Few things are nicer than a substitute that smells blood and is willing to break his face to score a goal the 20~ minutes he gets on the pitch.
 

SAFMUTD

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Great deal, we can now focus the budget on RW and Midfield.

My only worry is that the deal expires in January rather than next summer, we will be needing a striker on January when its harder to get quality players.
 

RonaldoVII

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Happy with the deal. He proved decent as a backup option and allows Greenwood to develop more with less pressure. I'm sure we've other attacking targets.
 

Grande

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Whilst I am happy and have posted to confirm I was happy Ighalo is remaining I do tend to agree with you.

I've posted recently that I feel Martial will fail to do it over the course of a season and my worry is putting too much pressure on a young Greenwood. That's why I'm happy Ighalo is staying to help ease that pressure on the kid.

But the fact remains we need a better, more consistent no. 9 than Martial to bridge the gap going forward. Unless goals are coming from everywhere which would be great, we still need a guaranteed 25+ goals a season forward like our rivals. Hopefully Greenwood is that striker in years to come.
like you, I’m happy with Ighalogetting on the boat, such a great bundle of positive energy, and as many have said, he really brings something else than Martial, Rashford and Greenwood.

like many, I still have doubts wether Martial is progressing too slowly to ever be the no 9 we should aspire to have.

What I do think, is that Martial is indeed progressing, and is at a level that is not A Problem for a club in our position to have as a front runner. Most likely, he will imptove further next year (yet, how slowly?), and if he makes a leap, striker is not a prioritised spot to spend 70m. If he doesn’t, maybe it is, but we’re in no hurry to make that call, and we need to spend big on other positions first.

Martial/Rashford/Greenwood/Ighalo gives us a decent strikeforce for the next six months.
 

NoPace

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Makes sense. He did well, is good at a lot of the in the box stuff our young forwards aren't good at yet (not uncommon) and we do have other, bigger needs:

Martial, Greenwood, Ighalo
Rashford, James
Bruno, Pogba, Fred, Mctominay, Matic, Lingard, Pereira
Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Williams, Dalot
Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Jones
De Gea, Romero

You can't look at those positional groupings and put forward above RW, LB or CB and then probably another midfielder too. Like our realistic ideal squad looks like this I think:

Martial, Greenwood, Ighalo
Rashford, RW, James
Bruno, Pogba, DM, Fred, Mctominay, Matic
Wan-Bissaka, LB, Shaw, Williams, Dalot
CB, Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Jones
De Gea, Romero

and then 5th place I think you could argue for either a #10 or a #9 sure. Or sign Havertz and that's both covered basically.
 

yan man utd

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Makes sense. He did well, is good at a lot of the in the box stuff our young forwards aren't good at yet (not uncommon) and we do have other, bigger needs:

Martial, Greenwood, Ighalo
Rashford, James
Bruno, Pogba, Fred, Mctominay, Matic, Lingard, Pereira
Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Williams, Dalot
Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Jones
De Gea, Romero

You can't look at those positional groupings and put forward above RW, LB or CB and then probably another midfielder too. Like our realistic ideal squad looks like this I think:

Martial, Greenwood, Ighalo
Rashford, RW, James
Bruno, Pogba, DM, Fred, Mctominay, Matic
Wan-Bissaka, LB, Shaw, Williams, Dalot
CB, Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Jones
De Gea, Romero

and then 5th place I think you could argue for either a #10 or a #9 sure. Or sign Havertz and that's both covered basically.
Agreed - apart from left back. Between Shaw and Williams we have it covered
but we def need a dominating centre back (despite spending millions on players that either get injured or aren’t the real deal - lindelof/ Bailly and can we please sell Jones?

We def need a new DM but not sure who!

I would hate to see us miss out on Grealish because he looks a proper Man Utd player and though I would love Sancho I’m not sure we can get him yet and I would love the creative midfield options of Grealish, Bruno and Pogba... then we can talk about possession football and outplaying opposition. City’s midfield is aging with the exception of de Bruyne who might leave and Liverpool are all about their hard running and overlapping fullbacks

I can see us competing ..