Ighalo will remain in Manchester until the end of the season, and is looking to contribute to a campaign where manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær is desperate for success. Solskjær has hinted that, if successful, Ighalo has a chance of getting a permanent contract.

So far Ighalo has made three appearances for the Red Devils, coming off the bench in the Premier League against Chelsea and Watford and in the Europa League against Club Brugge. 

After their emphatic 3-0 win against his former side Watford at the weekend, United currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League. That leaves them three points behind Chelsea as they chase the Blues for a coveted Champions League spot. 

United are at odds of around 9.0 behind the likes of Chelsea and Leicester to finish in the Champions League places currently being offered by some of the best Nigerian betting sites right now. 

The Europa League provides another potential route for United to secure Champions League football for next season. Betting sites like Bet9ja and Betway are backing United at 8.0 to lift the trophy, alongside joint favourites Inter Milan and Sevilla.

United will meet their Europa League opponents Club Brugge in the second leg of their round of 32 tie with a much valued away goal this week. 

Now that he has had playing time for Solskjær’s side, the big question is if and how Odion Ighalo will be able to make an impact on a United side that has found it hard to find the net at times this season.

Ighalo has arrived from a two year stint in the Chinese Super League with Changchun Yatai and most recently Shanghai Shenhua. But the Lagos-born striker has more than enough experience in England after a spell with Watford that delivered 33 goals in 82 appearances over three seasons. 

The former Watford front man spoke of his talents this week in his first United interview saying “I am very fast, I am skillful, I am strong, I have good techniques”.

Certainly Solskjær will be looking to utilise Ighalo’s specialist skills up front as an alternative to strikers Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood.

This season United’s Norwegian manager has been favouring a 4-2-3-1 system, and it’s likely that Ighalo will sit at the fulcrum of the team’s attacking line. The Nigerian is well known for both his aerial abilities as well as his capabilities inside the box. 

Solskjær has so far looked to break Ighalo in with substitute appearances in straight replacements for United’s now in form striker Anthony Martial. Ighalo has appeared at the top of the line, nearly securing his first goal in the dying minutes against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. 

Throughout his club and international career Ighalo has shown his strength in holding up play in the final third. This skill set will come in useful should United need to spread their attack toward the flanks as they search for opportunities in breaking their opponents down. 

Solskjær has previously spoken of the importance of “scrappy goals”. This is something the Baby-Faced Assassin himself as well as his former United teammate Ruud Van Nistelrooy were particularly adept at achieving during their time under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Should Solskjær wish to switch the team’s formation to a 4-4-2, Ighalo could provide the perfect strike partner for United’s young forwards. During his time at Watford the former Julius Berger youth endured his most successful spell sitting by the side of now Hornets captain Troy Deeney. 

Ighalo netted 18 goals during his partnership with Deeney up top for Watford, and the goals haven’t exactly been hard to come by since then. Ighalo has managed 15 in his last four fully competitive seasons when he has managed to stay injury free.

Add to that his well renowned success with the Super Eagles that saw him seal the Golden Boot at AFCON last year, and United could well and truly have a steal on their hands.

There have of course been murmurs about the competitive nature of the Chinese Super League, where Ighalo has been plying his trade. But he could be one of an emerging list of players such as Axel Witsel at Borussia Dortmund and Paulinho at Barcelona who have come in from the cold and had their careers reborn since making the return to Europe from China.

Whether or not Odion Ighalo will be a success at United only remains to be seen, but the self-professed Red Devils fanboy will certainly have plenty cheering him on at home. 

Adam Grimshaw @adamgeorgie

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