Manchester United will not sign Odion Ighalo permanently in January

Manchester United have extended the loan of Nigerian ace Odion Ighalo by six more months.

Having impressed in his initial spell at Old Trafford, the 30-year-old has been given a well-deserved extension to his Old Trafford stay.

Ighalo is now a Red Devil until January 31, 2021. This has, however, not come cheap as United were forced to pay Shanghai Shenhua an extra £6million as well as £130,000 of his £300,000-a-week wages. (h/t Daily Mail)

According to the Daily Mail, the agreement has no clause included to make the deal permanent. United will have to negotiate with Shenhua if they are to keep him after that.

Shanghai had demanded Ighalo’s return after his initial loan expired on Sunday. Thankfully, United have been able to work out a deal.

Our cause was helped by a further delay to the Chinese Super League season, which still has no start date in place. China also told foreign nationals last week that there will be no visas allowing them to return to the country until October.

Ighalo’s four goals and one assist in eight games have aided us in our rise up the table in recent months. By doing his talking on the pitch, Ighalo has silenced his doubters.

The news of his stay was met with jubilation from the majority of United fans.

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Ighalo will give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer another option in the attack alongside the fit-again Marcus Rashford. It will also take the pressure off United to splash the cash on a new striker in the summer window.

It makes sense for us to use a stop-gap until the financial situation stabilizes. Ighalo will be 31 in January when his contract expires. Brought in as a temporary measure, he will have done his job well.