Odion Ighalo has revealed the truth behind his shock past transfer to Manchester United. The 35-year-old Nigerian joined United on loan in January 2020 as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rushed to strengthen his front line after both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial got injured.

Ighalo, who was playing in the Chinese Super League for Shanghai Shenhua at that time, had previous Premier League experience with Watford, having scored an impressive 17 goals in 42 appearances in the 2015/16 season.

But after struggling in the following campaign, Ighalo then made the move to Changchun Yatai for a reported £20million in January 2017. Ighalo spent three years in Asia before he signed for United.

Following his move to Old Trafford, Ighalo, who is a boyhood United fan, reiterated that he is fulfilling his “dreams” by playing for the club.

He failed to score one Premier League goal during his time at United, which was extended until January 2021, but he ended up firing five goals in 23 matches across all competitions. Ighalo had initially penned a loan deal until the end of the 2019/20 season, but was kept on by Solskjaer until the following winter.

And in an interview with Nigeria Women’s star Rasheedat Ajibade, Ighalo opened up on how he managed to sign for United. “My agent called me to say United wanted a striker on loan because Martial and Rashford were injured and they needed a back-up striker,” he said.

“I said what team? Did you say Manchester United? And he said they have like four options of strikers to sign and you are the third option and all that

“I started praying against those other options and I said those other options will not work.”