Manchester United have signed Odion Ighalo from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua on an initial six-month loan till the end of the season.
The Red Devils have been in search for a striker following a long-term injury to leading scorer Marcus Rashford and a failure to replace Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku who left for Inter Milan in the summer.
Ighalo who plays for Shanghai Shenhua emerged as a target after the Red Devils failed with a bid for Bournemouth striker Joshua King with the Nigerian’s availability confirmed following the postponement of the Chinese Super League due to the Coronavirus epidemic in China.
Ighalo, a self-confessed United fan is no stranger to the Premier League and helped Watford win promotion to the English topflight from the Championship in 2014.
He scored 16 goals in 55 Premier League matches for Watford before departing for Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai for a reported £20m.
He earned 35 caps and scored 16 goals for Nigeria before hanging up his international boots after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations where he led the Super Eagles to third-place and won the golden boot as the tournament’s leading scorer with 5 goals.
Ighalo is United’s third signing this window following the £46.6m signing of Bruno Fernandes on Thursday and Southend goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.
