The coach of Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he would want to see the club’s loanee Odion Ighalo finish what he has started at the club but added that the club is waiting to see how things would pound out.
The Nigerian striker arrived at the club in January on loan from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua. The loan deal is expected to last until May 31st, that is, he is expected to return to China on Sunday.
Shanghai Shenhua has already requested for his return to the club since Manchester United has failed to pay his £20 million buy out clause and the Chinese club has not agreed on the extension of Ighalo‘s loan deal.
The Nigerian forward has always said playing at Manchester United was a dream come true for him but he is being tempted with the option of forgoing the improved £400,000 contract extension Shanghai Shenhua has placed on the table for him over his Man United dream.
Though his arrival at Manchester United generated a lot of criticism, Ighalo ended up silencing his critics with a standout performance which has forced even those who were criticising the move to urge United to make it permanent.
Within less than 6 weeks at the club, he won the heart of most fans of the club as he brought a fresh bite in the attack of Manchester United scoring four times in eight appearances.
“The loan deal went until the end of May now, so obviously he’s supposed to be going back,” Solskjaer told MUTV. “We’re in dialogue. They’ve been great towards us, his club, and allowed him to play for his dream club.
“It’s been a dream for him and hopefully he can finish off what he started, hopefully with a trophy for us. At the moment, nothing has been agreed. Their league is going to get started soon so we’re just waiting to see.”
It is just a matter of days from now that the world will see how the relationship between United and Ighalo will end. But no matter what happens within this period, the 30-year-old forward can not return to China immediately. Though the country has contained the coronavirus pandemic to a very large extent, no foreigner is allowed into China until further notice.
