Former Manchester United striker, Odion Ighalo is on the verge of joining a Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab. The 31-year-old Nigerian striker has reportedly agreed on a two-and-a-half year deal with Al-Shabab.
Before the deal can be sealed, Odion Ighalo must complete a medical with Al-Shabab. The latest reports claimed that the Nigeria international is already in Saudi Arabia and has started undergoing medical with the club.
As of the time of publishing this report, both the Saudi Arabian club and the player have not made the deal official. However, Odion Ighalo’s social media pages are filled with pictures he took around some of the beautiful sites in the country.
Initially, it was assumed that the striker decided to go to the Arabian country for a holiday after Manchester United failed to extend his stay at the Premier League club when his loan spell expired on January 31.
Recall that Odion Ighalo joined Manchester United in January 2020 when the club was in an injury crisis especially in the club’s attack. The Nigerian was first given a 6 months deal which was extended until January 2021.
The extension of the deal was seen as an appreciation for his good performance in the couple of games he played. Unfortunately for the football star, the second phase of his loan deal with Manchester United was not as fair as the first phase.
The coach of Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failed to give him regular game time until the end of his contract. It was so bad that Odion Ighalo made only 9 minutes appearance in the Premier League this season before he left United.
❤️ @IghaloJude lived his boyhood dream.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 27, 2021
He pulled on the famous red shirt. He scored at in front of a packed Old Trafford. He was the first Nigerian to represent the club.
Nothing will ever change that.
Thank you and good luck, Odion — you'll always be a Red 🔴 pic.twitter.com/FOyMAde2VE
While in all competitions, he made a total of 23 appearances in which he scored 5 goals and provided just an assist. The performance was not worth an extension even though the football star wanted to stay a bit longer.
When it was obvious that United was not planning to extend his stay at the club, he said his bye a few days before his contract with the club expired. After leaving United, the striker didn’t travel straight to China to rejoin Shanghai Shenhua despite still having until December 31, 2021, before his contract with the Chinese side expires.
Before now, Shanghai Shenhua has given Odion Ighalo the go-ahead to discuss with other clubs which prompted him to start discussing with Al-Shabab.
✈️🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/D0cabb0pTj
— Odion Jude Ighalo (@ighalojude) February 2, 2021
