While it’s trite to talk of sporting tragedies amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Odion Ighalo’s fairytale move to Manchester United is in danger of ending in early regret and disappointment.
The ridicule that accompanied Ighalo’s deadline-day signing at Old Trafford quickly turned to admiration and marvel when the Nigerian striker’s backstory and long-term affinity with the club came to light.
On one hand, yes, the Red Devils turning to a China-based striker, the wrong side of 30, to ease their goalscoring woes in the absence of Marcus Rashford was an indicator of the state the club find themselves in these days.
While Borussia Dortmund were parading around new boy Erling Haaland, the next big thing in the world game, United were ruing their inability to sign the wonderkid, and instead hoping that a striker who had once been cast off by Watford would appease supporters.
Ighalo has rediscovered his scoring form in China, but don’t forget that the striker once endured a hideous 599-minute spell without finding the net in the Premier League with the Hornets, as his confidence and composure evaporated.
Older, definitely, wiser, perhaps, he was, at the very least, an atypical signing when he put pen to paper at Old Trafford on January 31.
However, public perception quickly changed on Ighalo, partly due to his own clear affection for the club.
Odion Ighalo Manchester United 2019-20
Soon after arriving, he acknowledged that he’d taken a significant pay cut to get the move over the line, while speaking openly of what it meant to his family that he’d become the club’s first Nigerian player.
All of the other big sides in English football have given playing time to Nigerian players—from Victor Moses to John Obi Mikel, from Nwankwo Kanu to Kelechi Iheanacho—but now, finally, United were in on the act.
While it’s commonplace for players to claim that they are long-term fans of the club they’re signing for—Sulley Muntari once infamously claimed to have been a keen Portsmouth supporter when he arrived at Fratton Park—photos of a young Ighalo wearing a United kit in informal games in his homeland added credence to his love for the Red Devils.
Secondly, his performances—while occasionally rusty—also silenced some doubters.
He’s yet to score in the Premier League across four substitute appearances—although one sublime Jordan Pickford save denied him a goal that, on another day, he would have put away—but Ighalo has helped renew new life into United’s campaign.
To date, he has four goals in four appearances in the Europa League and the FA Cup—helping United progress in both competitions—and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are yet to lose in the striker’s eight appearances.
In fact, coinciding with Ighalo’s arrival, they have win six and drawn two of his outings so far, and are comfortably enjoying their best run of the campaign.
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