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

SteveTheRed

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People arguing that it is not a last minute panic decision, because we spoke to his agent a few days before, that really is clutching at straws.

It's absolutely panic, and obviously so stop trying to deny it. The board were hoping to sign Bruno and get through to the summer with no other business. Rashford got injured two weeks before so there was hardly any time.

That said, I hope Ighalo is a success. Would be great to see a genuine fan make the most of his loan deal.
 

UnofficialDevil

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I'm not anti Scottish, I just wanted Moyes out.
We got a stiker in when other clubs couldn't. Having seen how poor Martial and Rashford have been up front on their own and one more injury would be a disaster, I'm pleased we got someone whether it was deadline day or not. No doubt the club is a mess though.
I think any club could have gotten Ignalo but can’t imagine why any club would.
 

sglowrider

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Listened to Laurie Whitwell last night who is the journo for all things United at the Athletic, he said the following:

- United are not looking to sign players that don't fit the long term strategy of the club, however, because Rashford got injured the club were exploring the loan market for a short term stop-gap.
- The club spoke to Ighalo's agent a few days before deadline and enquired about a loan.
- The club also spoke to Bournemouth about King but they wanted a perm transfer. United offered £20m and £25m then pulled the plug on that deal as Bournemouth were holding out for £30m but as he's currently injured it could be a while before he got up to speed meaning it's too much money to waste when a loan option for Ighalo presented better money for value.
- The Ighalo deal has cost United in total around £4.5m for the whole 6 months including wages. He's on £300k a week in China but United are paying him £100k a week.
- Spoke about Paulinho coming from China to Barcelona a few seasons a go and being one of their better players so no concern about it being a retirement home as long as the player is still professional while there and stays fit.
- Spoke about how big clubs do this sometimes when caught short. Referenced Barcelona signing Kevin Prince-Boateng on loan the other season as a stop-gap also.
- Said during Ighalo's last year in England, his father passed away which hit him hard and affected his performance on the pitch.
- Was also disheartened about not joining United under LVG.
- His Ms's and child live in Manchester and have done for some time.
- Said that everyone he's spoken to connected to Ighalo has talked about how much he's a top guy and his family are great.
- Said United are aware they should have replaced Lukaku and Sanchez in the summer but the target's they're interested in aren't ready to move yet/ clubs asking too much currently. So United would rather wait another season and have a fresh run up this summer when they've done another year off their contract. Instead of signing whoever's available instead, which got us in this mess in the first place.
- Aston Villa enquired but wouldn't pay his wages. Barcelona enquired last January but he didn't want the move. Tottenham were in for him this window also but he turned them down in favour of United as he's a life long supporter of the club.

It could be way worse, this is essentially a win-win deal for everyone involved. If anyone's upset about this loan move it's due to an agenda.
Makes logical sense.
 

mancan92

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No, he admitted that United had decided to "do the deal" on deadline day. As in, most likely a deal they had talked to him/his agent about before that time.
No he said his agent came in and said United are interested. Then at 11 oclock he was told that we wanted to sign him and he tried his best to make it happen. It was all one day he said it there.
 

UnofficialDevil

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I'm not anti Scottish, I just wanted Moyes out.
Listened to Laurie Whitwell last night who is the journo for all things United at the Athletic, he said the following:

- United are not looking to sign players that don't fit the long term strategy of the club, however, because Rashford got injured the club were exploring the loan market for a short term stop-gap.
- The club spoke to Ighalo's agent a few days before deadline and enquired about a loan.
- The club also spoke to Bournemouth about King but they wanted a perm transfer. United offered £20m and £25m then pulled the plug on that deal as Bournemouth were holding out for £30m but as he's currently injured it could be a while before he got up to speed meaning it's too much money to waste when a loan option for Ighalo presented better money for value.
- The Ighalo deal has cost United in total around £4.5m for the whole 6 months including wages. He's on £300k a week in China but United are paying him £100k a week.
- Spoke about Paulinho coming from China to Barcelona a few seasons a go and being one of their better players so no concern about it being a retirement home as long as the player is still professional while there and stays fit.
- Spoke about how big clubs do this sometimes when caught short. Referenced Barcelona signing Kevin Prince-Boateng on loan the other season as a stop-gap also.
- Said during Ighalo's last year in England, his father passed away which hit him hard and affected his performance on the pitch.
- Was also disheartened about not joining United under LVG.
- His Ms's and child live in Manchester and have done for some time.
- Said that everyone he's spoken to connected to Ighalo has talked about how much he's a top guy and his family are great.
- Said United are aware they should have replaced Lukaku and Sanchez in the summer but the target's they're interested in aren't ready to move yet/ clubs asking too much currently. So United would rather wait another season and have a fresh run up this summer when they've done another year off their contract. Instead of signing whoever's available instead, which got us in this mess in the first place.
- Aston Villa enquired but wouldn't pay his wages. Barcelona enquired last January but he didn't want the move. Tottenham were in for him this window also but he turned them down in favour of United as he's a life long supporter of the club.

It could be way worse, this is essentially a win-win deal for everyone involved. If anyone's upset about this loan move it's due to an agenda.
yeah right Barcelona wanted him :lol: But he didn’t want to move there. :lol:
 

lifted

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yeah right Barcelona wanted him :lol: But he didn’t want to move there. :lol:
Pretty common knowledge that Barca enquired about him at the time they signed Kevin-Prince Boateng. I reckon he can see a chance at playing for United more than Barca and he'd sacrifice some of his £300k wages too - he's probably ridiculously wedged now.
 

Annihilate Now!

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Wonder why his wife and kid live in Manchester? He's been out in China for about 3 years now, and he played in London before that!

Anyway, you'd think moving "home" would also have a positive impact on him... until the wife starts getting at him for not putting the bins out.
 

romufc

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yeah right Barcelona wanted him :lol: But he didn’t want to move there. :lol:
There is also the fact that African footballers prefer the PL just like how South American players prefer Spain.

He is a massive United fan.
 

roonster09

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Pretty common knowledge that Barca enquired about him at the time they signed Kevin-Prince Boateng. I reckon he can see a chance at playing for United more than Barca and he'd sacrifice some of his £300k wages too - he's probably ridiculously wedged now.
Yeah, Ighalo said that in one of his interviews last year.
 

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If it's a loan, shouldn't his parent club be paying the wages that United aren't paying?
 

roonster09

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If it's a loan, shouldn't his parent club be paying the wages that United aren't paying?
Maybe his club made that agreement with him, saying they won't be paying any wages. That's why he said about pay cut.
 

Pass and Move

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I'm strangely optimistic about this signing. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get a 2 year contract in the summer.
 

bond19821982

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Hope he makes it here . We still need a new striker but Ighalo can be a backup.

100k is way too much for the backup though.
 

crossy1686

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yeah right Barcelona wanted him :lol: But he didn’t want to move there. :lol:
Yeah I made it up. I also made up this BBC article where I forced him at gunpoint to read from a script just so I could prove a point to a random stranger on the internet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47733498

"My agent spoke to me about a loan interest from Barcelona. The club wanted a striker with La Liga experience and someone who understands Spanish football," Ighalo told BBC Sport.

"It was meant to be a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker. It was nice to hear that Barcelona were interested and any footballer would be more than happy to take it.

"But with due respect I had just finished as the second top scorer in China with 21 goals, I deserve better and didn't want to be a short-term player somewhere.

"We rejected it, it was an easy decision to make and I chose to stay in China by joining Shanghai Shenhua on a longer contract," Ighalo added.
 

roseguy64

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I actually don't mind Burley that much, but Marcotti is usually the only one you can rely on to talk sense. The worst is that Venezuelan guy (Alejandro....) Absolute clown.
Burley just moans about everything so you know what you're gonna get. Agreed here. It's usually the journalists who are the sensible ones on the show.
 

Mihai

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No he said his agent came in and said United are interested. Then at 11 oclock he was told that we wanted to sign him and he tried his best to make it happen. It was all one day he said it there.
His agent confirmed he spoke with Woodward a couple of days before the deadline, so pretty sure Ighalo knew about our interest before the last day.
 

Lj82

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Wait so Ighalo just admitted that it was a last minute deal. That he found out on deadline day. So all you guys who said no its not a panic by the club have been preparing him for a while etc. you now have proof that it was a straight up punt from us. Utter jokers the guys running things
The point is, yes this is pretty much a last minute deal (however you want to define "last minute"), but it is far from being a panic signing.
It is a loan signing to buy the club some time to assess other long term targets.
Whether or not the club eventually signs a more suitable and better striker in the summer is anyone's guess.
But a real panic signing would be if the club signed someone like Cavani on a huge contract even though he does not fit the club's long term plans. We would then be stuck with him on high wages for the next few years. Sort of like how we are stuck with Sanchez now.
 

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Mihai

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Wait so Ighalo just admitted that it was a last minute deal. That he found out on deadline day. So all you guys who said no its not a panic by the club have been preparing him for a while etc. you now have proof that it was a straight up punt from us. Utter jokers the guys running things
We were in contact with his agent a couple of days before the deadline, which I am sure his agent told him. We told his agent that we want to take him on loan at 11pm Shanghai time, that is 3pm in UK. I don't know how long you think a loan deal is being prepared, but it looks quite normal to me.
 

sillwuka

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He's a man on a mission.

I think he'll do well here, I always rated him at Watford and glad we get to see him in a United shirt.
 

studs

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Happy for the lad, imagine catching your dream? I hope he does well and that he doesn't let it go.
 

Lee565

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I have a small concern with the constant dumb decision making and penny pinching at the club we could see a repeat of the hasty Ole appointment where ighalo might have a nice little purple patch of 5-10 goals just like James had at the start of the season and the club will work out a deal to sign him up on a permanent deal and Ole will come out and say he is happy with the striking options in the summer transfer window, then come the next season ighalo's ability will be consistently poor and we will struggle for another season with a lack of fire power in the striker department
 

croadyman

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I have a small concern with the constant dumb decision making and penny pinching at the club we could see a repeat of the hasty Ole appointment where ighalo might have a nice little purple patch of 5-10 goals just like James had at the start of the season and the club will work out a deal to sign him up on a permanent deal and Ole will come out and say he is happy with the striking options in the summer transfer window, then come the next season ighalo's ability will be consistently poor and we will struggle for another season with a lack of fire power in the striker department
Yeah I am not going to lie that is a worry I have about him doing well,especially when we have previous last March from making a kneejerk decision after a purple patch of form.

Really hope we still buy a proper striker in the summer but with the clowns in charge don't hold your breath on that one.
 

Harry190

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Some might laugh, but he probably would have been on Sir Alex's list if he was still around during the Moyes season.

He fits the bill for a United player. Character and life circumstances were a big factor for him when it came to buying or acquiring talent. Probably would have signed following his breakthrough season.

Not saying he would have been first choice, but he could easily have been a sub in a Ferguson team. Like an African Hernandez.
 

Web of Bissaka

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I have a small concern with the constant dumb decision making and penny pinching at the club we could see a repeat of the hasty Ole appointment where ighalo might have a nice little purple patch of 5-10 goals just like James had at the start of the season and the club will work out a deal to sign him up on a permanent deal and Ole will come out and say he is happy with the striking options in the summer transfer window, then come the next season ighalo's ability will be consistently poor and we will struggle for another season with a lack of fire power in the striker department
Hope not..but won't be surprising if it will happen. Sigh.