I Never Dreamed Of Man U Move, Says Ighalo

Odion Ighalo has said pulling on the Manchester United shirt as a player has been a surreal experience.

For Ighalo, the last six weeks have been something of a whirlwind experience.

The 30-year-old is a lifelong United fan and is still coming to terms with the fact he plays for the 20-time English champions.

“When you say those kinds of things (about the prospect of playing for United when he was a child), people say ‘are you crazy?’ because back then you don’t even know what the future holds,” the striker told beIN Sports.

“First you just want to go outside the country to start playing – even for a small team, not even to talk of going to United.

“But my support for the team was great. I tried to see every game of United every weekend if possible. I still remember those memories.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Super League outfit, Shanghai Shenhua, only paid £5.27m for the 30-year-old Nigerian when he left second tier side CC Yatai in February last year.

But in his six weeks at Old Trafford, Ighalo – on loan until the end of the season from Shanghai – has been a big hit.

And boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted the Reds want to make the deal permanent.

His market value is placed at £5.85m, but Shanghai bosses plan to sting United for THREE times that amount for a fee of £15m, says the Mirror.

There is an option for United to buy Ighalo, but it is understood no fee was set in stone when the loan was negotiated.