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

Freak

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Would be a different option up front. I haven’t seen much of him so I can’t tell how good he is, but just by his YouTube videos he’s abit underwhelming. This being a loan will be good as we can judge if he’s suitable for us.
 

The Man Himself

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It's a loan deal, we have shortage of forwards and we couldn't get better forwards since it is middle of season. Not bad deal from that perspective with nothing to lose.

The mistake was not buying/trying for someone like Mandzukic in summer if we were not getting targets we wanted, so that we could have had an experienced player as backup and in summer 2020, we could have tried again for long term option. But now that we are here, any goal scorer with bit of PL experience will do. Hopefully Ighalo will score few to help us reach top 4/win Europa. Lifelong United fan, so it will be a good story.
 

Bobcat

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Think this is a fairly good deal and a MUCH better deal than King for 50 million, assuming of course the quoted price were real and not some jorno's fever dream.

We need bodies up front and a loan deal with option to buy is almost no risk.
 

SpyLuke10

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Think this is a fairly good deal and a MUCH better deal than King for 50 million, assuming of course the quoted price were real and not some jorno's fever dream.

We need bodies up front and a loan deal with option to buy is almost no risk.
King was never even close to 50 million?
 

devilish

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I guess it was either him or no one
 

jeepers

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Fingers crossed this move turns out to have the same impact like the Henrik Larsson one
 

Fortitude

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Pasting from the transfer forum:

People preferring no player to a loan signing cannot be serious.

'Giving Greenwood minutes instead' is asking for trouble as he is not physically ready for those kinds of stresses and tribulations, and mentally, you should not put that kind of pressure on a kid - sure, play him when he's doing well, but equally, he needs to be handled carefully and rotated in and out of the side. On top of that, Greenwood coming on against tired defences is a far more prudent use of him than going against full-grown men from kick off. He is not a man child, not is he particularly athletic, which is usually the gateway for young prodigies against seasoned adults in the mens' game.

Martial needs rest and rotation, he also needs a foil whilst Rashford is out of the fold. We have nobody in the squad to be that foil, which obviously invites a new striker to take up the baton and be that player.

Ighalo is going to be trying his damnedest here, too. This is literally the opportunity of a lifetime for him as far as football is concerned. He might not be good enough to earn a transfer here, but he will absolutely bust a gut trying. His zest is going to occupy defenders, which in turn gives players behind him more space to work in. We have zero, none, nil, null enthusiastic off-the-ball runners in the squad without Rashford. Whether Ighalo scores or not, he can contribute to the team by pulling backlines left and right with his work without the ball.

I wouldn't have pulled his name out of any hat for a stand-in striker, but there's nothing to think about with regard to having him here or not.

---

Imagine if he comes and tears it up as a man possessed! :lol:

Someone mentioned polling to see who people think will score the most out of Ighalo, Martial and Greenwood over the remainder of the season; it could be an interesting race there.
 

RedRonaldo

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Pasting from the transfer forum:

People preferring no player to a loan signing cannot be serious.

'Giving Greenwood minutes instead' is asking for trouble as he is not physically ready for those kinds of stresses and tribulations, and mentally, you should not put that kind of pressure on a kid - sure, play him when he's doing well, but equally, he needs to be handled carefully and rotated in and out of the side. On top of that, Greenwood coming on against tired defences is a far more prudent use of him than going against full-grown men from kick off. He is not a man child, not is he particularly athletic, which is usually the gateway for young prodigies against seasoned adults in the mens' game.

Martial needs rest and rotation, he also needs a foil whilst Rashford is out of the fold. We have nobody in the squad to be that foil, which obviously invites a new striker to take up the baton and be that player.

Ighalo is going to be trying his damnedest here, too. This is literally the opportunity of a lifetime for him as far as football is concerned. He might not be good enough to earn a transfer here, but he will absolutely bust a gut trying. His zest is going to occupy defenders, which in turn gives players behind him more space to work in. We have zero, none, nil, null enthusiastic off-the-ball runners in the squad without Rashford. Whether Ighalo scores or not, he can contribute to the team by pulling backlines left and right with his work without the ball.

I wouldn't have pulled his name out of any hat for a stand-in striker, but there's nothing to think about with regard to having him here or not.

---

Imagine if he comes and tears it up as a man possessed! :lol:

Someone mentioned polling to see who people think will score the most out of Ighalo, Martial and Greenwood over the remainder of the season; it could be an interesting race there.
No way Ighalo could outscore Martial or Greening. I wouldn't expect him to score more than 5 or 6 goals in 2nd half of season. But he definitely can do a squad rotation for us in some cup competitions, or subs in the league.

I mean in his last season in England he only score 2 goals in 19 games. Last year in Chinese league, he only score 10 goals in 19 games. Surely you wouldn't expect him to outscore Marital or Greening, who had already scored 10-12 goals so far this season?

Let's get real, in La Liga, he avg 5 goals per season (3 season), in England Championship, he avg 20 goals per season (1 season), in Premier league, he avg 12 goals per season (1.5 season), In Chinese league, he avg 15 goals per season (3 season). That's his level and he is already 30. Surely you won't expect him to suddenly improve that massively during 6 months loan here.
 
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Fortitude

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No way Ighalo could outscore Martial or Greening. I wouldn't expect him to score more than 5 or 6 goals in 2nd half of season. But he definitely can do a squad rotation for us in some cup competitions, or subs.

I mean in his last season in England he only score 2 goals in 19 games. Last year in Chinese league, he only score 10 goals in 19 games. Surely you wouldn't expect him to outscore Marital or Greening, who had already scored 10-12 goals so far this season?
He'll get more chances to convert here than at Watford. He'll also play ahead of Martial as the #9, very possibly with Martial back on the left.

We've had no one driving into the box sniffing out #9-type chances or being opportunistic - Martial doesn't seem to know how to and Greenwood is very young and fragile for the men's game, he's also naturally a very clean and tidy player, not one for box scrambles and scrappy goals from tussles, so Ighalo has an in and a niche to carve in our frontline.

Even if he's not great or good out there, he won't be getting hooked early as we need someone to work a defence and also be a foil for Martial, so opportunity is there for him via play time.

Lastly, Martial is no sure thing to remain fit and injury free... heaven forbid, but we could be down to Ighalo and Greenwood at any given time. If that happens, Ighalo obviously has a chance to make inroads on Martial's goal tally.
 

RedRonaldo

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He'll get more chances to convert here than at Watford. He'll also play ahead of Martial as the #9, very possibly with Martial back on the left.

We've had no one driving into the box sniffing out #9-type chances or being opportunistic - Martial doesn't seem to know how to and Greenwood is very young and fragile for the men's game, he's also naturally a very clean and tidy player, not one for box scrambles and scrappy goals from tussles, so Ighalo has an in and a niche to carve in our frontline.

Even if he's not great or good out there, he won't be getting hooked early as we need someone to work a defence and also be a foil for Martial, so opportunity is there for him via play time.

Lastly, Martial is no sure thing to remain fit and injury free... heaven forbid, but we could be down to Ighalo and Greenwood at any given time. If that happens, Ighalo obviously has a chance to make inroads on Martial's goal tally.
I don't think its likely to happen. He didn't really score alot last season in Chinese league and he is already 30. But I think he is still capable to score a few goals for us, and he is definitely a better option that our other backup forward (ie Lingard). Let's see.
 

::sonny::

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He will bring the corona virus in England for sure

But I remember him at Watford and was a really good player

I don’t understand why people are worried about this signing

Him and Bruno played both for Udinese
 

tenpoless

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I've been on RedCafe long enough. I swear to god, even though people are now accepting the reality that Odion is the only striker We can bring in this January and wrote realistic paragraphs about how this is not a bad loan and if scores a few that's good enough, all it takes for them to change their stance is one game where Odion missed a sitter than cost us a win and They will want to send him back to china :lol:
 

devilish

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Making it to the CL either at 4th place or by winning the Europa league is important for us financial wise (therefore rebuilding wise) and are probably crucial to Ole. However let's forget about all that for a sec. We couldn't afford running Greenwood to the ground as there would be a huge possibility that he would pick a career crippling injury just as Rashy probably did. We needed bodies in and it was either Ighalo or no one.

Honestly I would have preferred Piatek. However Ighalo is not as bad as many makes him to be. He's EPL proven, he's fast, he's strong and he's a United fan which is a plus.
 

Kostov

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Making it to the CL either at 4th place or by winning the Europa league is important for us financial wise (therefore rebuilding wise) and are probably crucial to Ole. However let's forget about all that for a sec. We couldn't afford running Greenwood to the ground as there would be a huge possibility that he would pick a career crippling injury just as Rashy probably did. We needed bodies in and it was either Ighalo or no one.

Honestly I would have preferred Piatek. However Ighalo is not as bad as many makes him to be. He's EPL proven, he's fast, he's strong and he's a United fan which is a plus.
We ain’t making top 4 when Burnley are humiliating us at Old Trafford, regardless of Bruno or Ighalo.
 

sglowrider

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He'll get more chances to convert here than at Watford. He'll also play ahead of Martial as the #9, very possibly with Martial back on the left.

We've had no one driving into the box sniffing out #9-type chances or being opportunistic - Martial doesn't seem to know how to and Greenwood is very young and fragile for the men's game, he's also naturally a very clean and tidy player, not one for box scrambles and scrappy goals from tussles, so Ighalo has an in and a niche to carve in our frontline.

Even if he's not great or good out there, he won't be getting hooked early as we need someone to work a defence and also be a foil for Martial, so opportunity is there for him via play time.

Lastly, Martial is no sure thing to remain fit and injury free... heaven forbid, but we could be down to Ighalo and Greenwood at any given time. If that happens, Ighalo obviously has a chance to make inroads on Martial's goal tally.
Plus he gives Rashford some breathing room to allow him to recover properly and not be rushed back.
 

devilish

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We ain’t making top 4 when Burnley are humiliating us at Old Trafford, regardless of Bruno or Ighalo.
This has been a shit season not only for us but for everybody bar Liverpool. No wonder why despite a wafer thin squad and a non existent manager we're still 5th, just 6 points away from Chelsea. We are as likely to end up 4th place as we are to end up 12th. It depends on us being less shit then the others.
 

flappyjay

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EPSN lads not one bit impressed , they cannot understand it at all. He has not played since the first week in December and only has 3 goals and two of them were penalties.

You see this is why I stopped watching these type of shows.

1. He obviously not a Lukaku replacement
2.he is not a Haaland alternative and probably without Rashfords injury we don't sign him
3.he is obviously come in as a much needed relief striker
4. If he scores goals great even if he doesn't he will have done his job come June by giving Greenwood and Martial rest time.
 

FireballXL5

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Apparently we were also interested in Danny Ings and Teemu Pukki as well as Josh King... ended up with Ighalo.
I consider the barrel well and truly scraped.
 

sunama

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Hopefully he scores some goals for us.

Nothing more to say.
My thoughts exactly.
He is a loanee, who will be here for about 5 months.
If he sucks, he won't get any game time. If he is great, then bonus.
I don't think anybody loses out on this deal.

Bruno is our big signing, which I hope works out well for us.
 

BulgarianDevil91

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Wasn't he wanted by Chelsea when he did madness with Watford? I believe he's going to be just fine and will score enough for us to purchase him in the summer.
 

Paul778

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Anyone doing a flight tracker on him?

Has he got to stay in quarantine when he arrives?
 

Thiagoal

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Is our squad stronger with him signing? Yes! I think the plan will be to put Martial back on the left as he’s proven once and for all he ain’t a striker for a team with top four ambitions!
 

Jev

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Quite happy with this signing. Shrewd business. Certainly a way better option than panic-buying Joshua King solely due to his Norwegianness.
 
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Omg this is so funny, so I was out last night shaking my booty cakes and I saw this thread and I genuinely thought I was just tipsy :lol:
 

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I'm encouraged by us making what seems to me to be an excellent decision. We don't need to worry about his development or how he fits into the long term plans, just a stop gap while Rashford is out, to provide some cover for Martial and Greenwood. Thank the gods that Bournemouth rejected the bid for King, I think that was overkill.

Not that we shouldn't look for a long term striker target, but we should aim higher than King in that regard.
 

Kostur

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I'm okay with that, no problem with it being Ighalo but God our transfer dealings are fecking shambles. All the best to Iggy though, hope he can become an absolute gem for us for the time being.
 

McGrathsipan

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Hes come in and depending on cup runs we might have around 20 games left in the season give or take.

How many goals does he need to score to prove the transfer is a shrewd move?

I'd say 8.
 

M Bison

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It’s the sensible move and actually a huge relief we didn’t end up with Cavani (or similar) on an 18 month deal on £350k a week and/or at a huge cost.

Worst comes to worse, he only plays in Europe and cup games which allows Martial a rest, best case he pushes Martial to perform to a higher level and chips in with a few goals as well, hopefully it’s the latter.
 

Kostov

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This has been a shit season not only for us but for everybody bar Liverpool. No wonder why despite a wafer thin squad and a non existent manager we're still 5th, just 6 points away from Chelsea. We are as likely to end up 4th place as we are to end up 12th. It depends on us being less shit then the others.
You are right. But up till now we’ve been pretty shit and leading the shit table. 6 points is a lot for this team and this manager.
 

Cnaiür urs Skiötha

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From Haaland over Cavani to this lad. I am glad we signed Bruno so I don’t care too much but this seems just weird.