Odion Ighalo says he is open to signing for Manchester United on a permanent basis after his loan deal expires.
Ighalo, 30, has scored four goals in eight games since arriving from Shanghai Shenhua in January and the United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested he would be keen on keeping the striker beyond the end of the season.
United did not add an option to buy in the terms of Ighalo’s loan contract, which ends on May 31, and he would be under no legal obligation to stay beyond its expiration. The English football season is expected to stage fixtures in June and July, should it resume.
Ighalo’s contract with Shanghai Shenhua expires next year and the Chinese Super League side have offered the Nigeria international an improved £400,000-a-week deal, but Ighalo is receptive to staying in Manchester.
“I’m on loan until the end of the season, which has not expired,” he told Juliet Bawuah. “Now it’s for us to finish the season very well, I do well, score more goals, if possible, then after the season we’ll see what’s on the table.
“But, for now, the season is still on. Even for me, as a person, you can’t start talking about the contract when you don’t know when the season is going to resume. So there’s no need to talk about that, it’s just finish the season and then see how it goes.
“Of course, I’m enjoying my time there, so if something comes up, why not? We’ll see it, study it – if it’s what’s good for me – and, of course, my agent decides this.
“I’ve been there, I’ve been around the club for a few months, everything is working perfectly well for me. Not just well for me, but the team is doing so well, fantastic. Why not? Let’s see how it goes.”
Solskjaer said after Ighalo scored in the 5-0 drubbing of LASK Linz last month: “Odion has done really well since he came in and he’s enjoying himself, he will improve and get better.
“But he has qualities we saw in him and we needed and we will still need those qualities for next season. So let’s see what we will do.”
Ighalo said at the weekend he had not received the offer of a permanent contract from United. “There is no offer on the table yet,” Ighalo told ElegbeteTV.
“Because the season is still on and I’m yet to finish my loan deal. I don’t just take decisions alone in my life. I have a principle and I have a guideline for everything I do. I always pray to God to direct me.
“I have seen so many tweets about this. I have seen so many people going crazy, [saying] ‘go back to China’, some say stay with Man United. Have you seen me say a word? I don’t have anything to say.
“When the season’s finished and I get two offers from the two teams, then I will sit and think about it, pray about it and whatever God says I should do, I will go with that.
“I don’t just sit down and take decisions, and I don’t get carried away with whatever people say. I came to Manchester United to play for a pay cut because I wanted to. So anything could happen, but I want the season to finish and my loan to finish. Then I will see everything I have.
“You don’t just rush and do things. ‘I’m going here, I’m going here’. I have to sit down and finish the season well, sit down with my agent, see what’s on the ground: A, B, C, D, is on the ground. Okay we have to pick.”
Source: Manchester Evening News
