Manchester United have reached agreement on a loan deal for striker Odion Ighalo at the 11th hour on January transfer window deadline day. Yes, it’s a move that has surprised almost everybody. The 30-year-old Nigerian arrives from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, and in essence he’s a stop-gap addition with leading scorer Marcus Rashford out injured for a few more weeks.
United were linked with AFC Bournemouth (and former MUFC academy product) Josh King, Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani and many others but it was Ighalo who actually saw his move materialized.
BREAKING NEWS
It's happening….
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Shanghai Shenhua to take Odion Ighalo on loan for six months with an option to buy, having already agreed terms with the player.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 31, 2020
Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers FYIs
February 1, 5:30 pm, Old Trafford
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United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made it clear that he wanted another forward to complement his brand new playmaking midfielder Bruno Fernandes, and now he got one.
It took awhile for Fernandes to finally arrive, and in the end United ended up paying what they were asked for up front anyway. So what was all that dancing in the negotiations for? United could have used Fernandes earlier this month as they dropped points while Chelsea was doing the same and thus keeping the door to the top four open.
And the chance is here now dance the stretch as United have addressed both positions of need this month while Stamford Bridge did absolutely nothing. Which was extremely surprising, given how the London club went out of their way to get the transfer ban lifted.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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