Manchester United: Lee Grant Signs New Deal & Talk of Odion Ighalo Joining Permanently (Yes, Really)

​Are you ready for your daily dose of Manchester United news? You are? Get in. 

Trust us, there's no better way to prepare for the 387 close up, slow motion camera shots of Wayne Rooney tonight during coverage of United's game against Derby in the FA Cup. 

On the agenda today is a new contract for one of the Red Devils' standout performers of the season (parts of this sentence may be lie), a possible permanent deal for everyone's favourite, lovable striker Odion Ighalo and some nostalgia courtesy of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. 

Let's get to it shall we.


Lee Grant-ed New Deal

Lee Grant

​What a season it's been for Lee Grant. One appearance, zero clean sheets. Oosh, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. 


Thanks to this incredible form, United's third choice keeper has had his contract extended until the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

Speaking to the club's website, the 37-year-old revelled in his delight at the news.

"I love being here and clearly somebody likes me being here also, so it's good to have it sorted," he said.


"I'm just looking forward to being part of next year and part of watching the football club grow and move forward, which for me, has been happening clearly over the last 18 months anyway."


Yes, that's certainly one way of looking at it, Lee.


Ighalo to Stay?

Odion Ighalo

​Look, it was nice when Ighalo scored against Club Brugge. It was really nice, actually - genuinely heart warming stuff. However, is it enough to qualify him for consideration for a permanent deal? Who knows.

Solskjaer refused to rule it out when pressed on the matter though.

"He's here on merit,” the United boss told Sky Sports (via ​Daily Star). ”He's here because he's a goal scorer and he's a different type of a striker for us. Of course we might get to the summer and 'yeah we want to extend this' - who knows?


"Against Brugge, he scored. Against ​Watford, he had a great chance. Against ​Everton, he's there, he had a chance but it was a very good save.

"He doesn't miss the target very often. So it's about having that for Anthony [Martial], Marcus [Rashford] and Mason [Greenwood] to learn."

​Marcus Rashford learning from Odion Ighalo. It's certainly an interesting concept.


Solskjaer Remembers the Good Old Days

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

​If there's one thing Solskjaer does well, it's nostalgia, and he helped us to a double dosage in his pre-match press conference this week. 

First, he reminisced about that treble winning season, specifically when he faced off against Derby boss Phillip Cocu in the Champions League group stage.

​"He was a difficult player to play against. He played for Barcelona and I played in the 3-3 at home [in 1999] and, technically and tactically, he was very, very good," Solskjaer told the club's ​website


"Great left foot, correct me if I’m wrong, and he played at centre-back but used to be a midfielder. I thought maybe I’ll have a chance against him, but he was very clever in his positioning."


He kept reeling out the hits, moving on to talk about Rooney's time at Old Trafford. 


"It will be good to beat him! Of course, it will be good to see him and Wayne is a very, very good lad and a legend of Man United," he said.


"I think he should thank me because my injury many years ago meant we needed to sign someone, although I think we would have signed him anyway! He’s an absolutely fantastic human being and a top lad to have around.


"Of course, a lot has been said about him being my son Noah’s favourite player when he was younger. I’m looking forward to seeing him."



Source : 90min