Odion Ighalo has revealed his two Manchester United idols growing up, as he continues to live the dream since his shock move to Old Trafford.
After making a surprise loan move to United in January, the Nigerian striker has boosted his hopes of a permanent move from Shanghai Shenhua following some impressive performances in a Red Devils shirt.
A £15 million fee has been placed on his head by his parent club, and the latest reports suggest that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is ready to sanction a deal for the 30-year-old.
Ighalo, who has scored four goals in three starts for United, grew up watching Sir Alex Ferguson’s United teams and his love of goalscoring was inspired by two Old Trafford fan favourites.
“I watched Andy Cole growing up,” Ighalo told beIN Sports. “Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, they were two strikers at United who used to score goals. They were very strong and scored a lot of goals.
“I tried to see every game of United every weekend if possible.
“I still remember those memories.
“When you say those kind of things (about playing for United when he was a child), people say ‘are you crazy?’ because back then you don’t even know what the future holds.
“First you just want to go outside the country to start playing – even for a small team, not even to talk of going to United.
“But my support for the team was great. I never imagined it was going to turn out this way. Even when I played in the Premier League for Watford, I never thought this was going to happen.”
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