After last summer Africa Cup of Nation tournament in Egypt in which he emerged as the top goal scorer, Ighalo announced his retirement from the Eagles and international football. The same shock that attended this his audacious move to United also characterised that retirement announcement. Through his time in the Eagles where he had 35 caps and scored a total of 15 goals, Ighalo has often had to endure criticism from fans about consistency in front of goal. Football pundits believe this to be the major reason he left the Eagles setup last year.
With the move to United, the same fans who were out for him are now realising his worth and singing his praises. Ighalo is now the sort after bride. The media is awash with comments urging his return to the team. The Ighalo bug seems to have caught no less a figure in the person of Gernot Rohr, the Super Eagles’ coach. The Franco-German tactician has revealed that he already established touch with Ighalo to convince him to return to the Eagles.
Rohr concedes that it is the dream of every coach to have a player playing for a club like Manchester United in their ranks, “we are very happy about the new team of Ighalo, Manchester United is a fantastic challenge for him and I spoke already with him and you know he is a very good player on and off the pitch. If a player is playing in Manchester United each coach of national teams would like to have him. Our young players could learn a lot on the side of this great goal scorer.”
Ighalo is not new to the English Premier League, during his 83 appearances for Premiership side Watford from 2014 – 2017, he scored a total of 33 goals. His £300,000 a week wage is to be footed by his new club, Manchester United and Shanghai Shenhua until the end of the season.
