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Odion Ighalo Reveals He Took a Pay Cut in Order to Finalise Man Utd Move

​Odion Ighalo has revealed he took a pay cut in order to make his move to Manchester United come to fruition on January transfer deadline day.

The Nigerian international had emerged as a potential target for the Red Devils as the winter window drew to a close, but the move escalated on the final day as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men battled to strike a loan deal with Shanghai Shenhua.

With ​Marcus Rashford out injured until April, bringing in a new striker was paramount for ​United. Ighalo's move was a surprise one nevertheless, but one that only came about due to the 30-year-old striker's willingness to accept less wages than he was on in China.

"I told my agent 'this is what I want. I want to come here'," Ighalo told the club's ​official website.

"He said: 'You're going to get a pay cut to go to United.' I said: 'I don't care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don't care how much is the pay cut, I know that, make it happen.'"


The loan deal includes no option or obligation to buy, but instead offers United a striker until the end of the season who is familiar with the ​Premier League from his time at Watford. Despite not being certain of a regular starting berth for the remainder of the campaign, Ighalo was nonetheless ecstatic at the chance to join the club he supported as a boy.

"I called my mum and she was happy, crying," he added. "I know many people used to say when they join a team, they say that they dream of playing for that team. Mine was not the case. I supported the team when I was young.


"People that know me, even back in Nigeria, and even when I was playing at Watford, my team-mates knew that I loved Manchester United, I support them."

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Source : 90min