Nigeria: I Accepted Pay Cut to Join Man United On Loan - Ighalo

4 August 2024

Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has disclosed that he had to make a big sacrifice in order to join Manchester United on loan in 2020.

Recall that the Nigerian international, who was at Shanghai Shenhua at the time, got a call from his agent that United were interested in his services.

Speaking with Manchester Evening News, Ighalo stated that he was eager to make the deal come to reality.

"At 11 pm in Shanghai, my agent called me [to say] that United wanted to do the deal, so I woke up and started looking for a translator to go to the directors' room and hit his door.

"So, they started talking and discussing. I didn't sleep throughout that night, because it was going to end at 7 am, Shanghai time, and the transfer [window] was going to close there.

"From 11 pm there was paperwork, negotiating, and all that, for the loan deal, so we are talking and other teams are calling them, wanting me, but I told my agent that this is what I want.

"I want to come here. He said: 'You're going to get a pay cut to go to United.' I said: 'I don't care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don't care how much the pay cut is," Ighalo added.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.