Odion Ighalo To Leave Manchester United This Week

At the end of his loan spell this week, Odion Ighalo looks set to leave Manchester United with parent club Shanghai Shenhua keen to have the striker back ahead of the start of the Chinese Super League season.

Ighalo has been a hit at Old Trafford since signing a loan deal on the last day of the January transfer window, scoring for his boyhood club four times over.

But after eight appearances his loan spell looks set to end, with his initial deal only penned until May 31. United’s season will now extend well beyond that due to the coronavirus pandemic that caused the campaign to be suspended, with United not playing since LASK Linz ‘s 5-0 demolition on March 12.

United still has nine games to play in the Premier League and will remain in the Europa League and FA Cup. They ‘re looking to keep Ighalo until the end of this season and have been negotiating extending the loan contract with Shanghai Shenhua.

Nevertheless, the Chinese authorities are now optimistic to launch the Chinese Super League season in late June or early July, and as a result their club is keen to get the 30-year-old striker back in the fold.

The initial loan came at a time when the CSL season was still to begin and China was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the country now records far fewer cases and there is optimism that the 2020 campaign could be launched in the next six weeks.

Ighalo has been keen to remain at Old Trafford. He has made no secret of his love for the club and has relished every minute of his unexpected move to United.

Ighalo was signed on deadline day as United’s frantic search for a striker in the wake of Marcus Rashford’s back injury came to an end. The Nigerian’s impact at the club he supported as a boy has far exceeded expectations, with goals in all of his starts for the club, but with Rashford now fit and available again United are relaxed about the prospect of losing Ighalo at the end of this week.