High and ’Lo

By Pete Reilly Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/11 15:18:40

Manchester United’s Odion Ighalo deal could prove inspired


Odion Ighalo Photo: VCG

 

When Manchester United convinced Shanghai ­Shenhua to allow Odion Ighalo to stay in England rather than return to China, it marked a remarkable renaissance for the Nigeria striker.

There was little fanfare when the former Watford and Granada frontman arrived at Old Trafford on the ­final day of the winter transfer window.

If anything sounded, in fact, it was alarm bells as many in the media questioned the wisdom of Ole ­Gunnar Solskjaer's side opting to bring in a 30-year-old who had been plying his trade in the Chinese Super League.

The recieved wisdom in the West is that the CSL signals the end of a career, and if that was not evidence enough of a player who would not cut the mustard returning to the English Premier League, the naysayers pointed to his struggles to score at the end of his Watford days before he left for Changchun and then Shanghai.

They paid no mind to the fact that Ighalo was in fine form in China - he scored 36 in 55 games for Changchun Yatai in the CSL, nearly keeping them up in his second season, and then 10 in 17 for Shenhua - but he also finished top scorer in the 2019 African Cup of Nations. He clearly still knew where the net was.

The players welcomed him, according to the man himself. "They are good lads," he said in an interview. "They are happy to have me around. I have played against some before. They accept me."

The fans also accepted him, and quickly. For his first home game against Club Brugge in the UEFA ­Europa League - he had made his debut against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge from the bench days earlier.

They reprised the old Watford song for Ighalo, sung to the tune of Spandau Ballet's "Gold" before soon having their own song for the Shanghai Shenhua striker to the tune of their "Viva Ronaldo" chant for Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Coming from Shanghai, we're all gonna die, Viva Ighalo," it went. 

His new manager was positive from the outset, as was the striker himself. Not only would he become the first Nigerian to pull on that famous red shirt but this was the club he watched when he was growing up in Lagos.

Ighalo's joy to be at the club was matched with his professionalism. While he was unable to travel with his new teammates to Spain on their winter break, he settled into the gym and did extra training sessions to get close to match fit.

He showed the same effort on the pitch and no little application. In just eight appearances for United he has four goals - and one of them was a scorcher.

Juggling act

He won the club's goal of the month award for his stunning effort against Austria's LASK Linz, the last game the club played before the lockdown stopped the English Premier League.

Ighalo juggled the ball at the edge of the box before spanking an unstoppable volley into the top corner. It was a shame that few were there to see it - the game was played behind closed doors aside from some press and officials - but the good news for United ahead of the English game returning in empty stadiums is that their Super Eagle played his best football in a red shirt in those circumstances.

It's safe to say he has won over the doubters, the reception of his loan being extended was proof enough of that, but he has also won over club legends.

"He's different, he's a center forward whereas the other players can play out wide," Ryan Giggs told Sky Sports.

"He gives you something extra off the bench when he's not starting. Center forwards always want to score goals, he's done that everywhere he has gone.

"It's positive that he is able to stay because he has done well. He makes an impact when he's on the pitch."

Even Paul Scholes, whose words as a pundit regarding his former club have often hurt more than his trademark late tackles in his playing days, has been won over.

"I was a little bit dubious about the Ighalo one," Scholes told MUTV. "I wasn't quite sure how that would work, but you have to say that's worked as well. 

"He's a different kind of player from the players we had, a bit more of a target man which we miss and he seems to have settled in really well, scoring goals."

'I like him a lot'

Another striker who arrived at Old Trafford under something of a cloud has offered some supportive words.

"I like him, I like him a lot," ­Michael Owen said. The former United and England frontman arrived in Manchester from Newcastle United and was well past the form that won him the Ballon d'Or as a 22-year-old. However, he did a job at a time when United were struggling up front, famously scoring an injury-time winner in the Manchester Derby with his goal in front of the Stretford End sealing a 4-3 win over rivals City.

"I know people turn their nose up at him because he's come from Chinese football or because he's on loan, he's not a sexy 60 million pound player or whatever. But I tell you what, I like him", Owen told Premier League Productions.

"He's maybe not the full-time No.9 for Manchester United permanently but when you've got [Anthony] Martial, when you've got Ighalo, when you've got [Marcus] Rashford, all of a sudden you've got a bit of pace, a bit of pace, a bit of guile."

United, who sit in fifth in the English Premier League with nine games to go, will need all of these attributes when football resumes in England. The Red Devils travel to London for their first visit to Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium.

Spurs, managed by former United boss Jose Mourinho, are one of the teams challenging United's hopes of fourth spot, though they only play Leicester City above them in the table before the end of the season.

Goals from the loanee will help secure UEFA Champions League football and perhaps silverware, enough to make everyone eat their words.



Posted in: SOCCER

blog comments powered by Disqus