His 18 strikes in all competitions was the highest total of any Hornets player last season and Mazzarri is sure the forward will start finding the back of the net again regularly soon
Browsing: Odion Ighalo
The Nigerian striker capped a perfect week when he struck his first goal since becoming Watford’s record signing this summer
The Franco-German retained belief in the squad that pipped Tanzania 1-0 in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on September 3
Marcus Rashford cancelled out a first-half Etienne Capoue effort to leave the two teams on terms entering the final 30 minutes, but late goals from Juan Zuniga and Troy Deeney saw Watford beat Man United for the first time in 30 years
Ighalo inspired the Hornets to a 4-2 comeback win over West Ham last weekend. The Nigerian scored the first goal for his side in that encounter
The first of the six goals came in the fifth minute when Antonio met Payet’s corner kick in the box and headed the ball home from six yards out
The Hammers currently occupy 12th position with one victory from their opening three matches, but in truth, Slaven Bilic’s side were not handed the easiest of starts to the campaign
The 27-year-old Nigerian is yet to score in the Premier League this season and has managed just four goals in his last 21 games for the club
But Ighalo, 27, has scored only twice in the Premier League in 2016 and just five in all competitions this calendar year and there is growing concern among fans at Vicarage Road that he may have been sussed out by defenders
While both Watford and Arsenal are without a win as they enter their third game of the new Premier League season, the Nigerians are yet to hit the back of the net this season
The Nigeria international, 27, said: “I feel at home here and once the opportunity to extend was finalised, I signed it straight away
Watford turned down a £38 million offer from the Chinese side, Shanghai SIPG, for the striker at the end of June, with the owner, Giampaolo Pozzo, adamant that he is not considering selling the 27-year-old
United chief executive, Ed Woodward, contacted Watford the week leading up to the Premier League game with Newcastle on January 23 and asked if the Hornets would be receptive to a bid of £35 million.
Watford boldly turned it down as they were under no pressure to sell their best players and the timing of the bid left them no time to find a replacement
The Hornets reportedly turned down a £37.5 million bid from Shanghai SIPG for the striker last summer and were rewarded when the Nigerian hit 15 goals in his first season in the Premier League
With United in fifth and nine points off Arsenal at the start of 2016, Van Gaal was reportedly desperate to add fresh blood into the squad in order to salvage something from their season
The Chinese club broke their transfer record this week when they signed Hulk from Zenit St Petersburg for £46.1 million but they are unlikely to add Ighalo to their squad after Watford’s refusal to even consider the offer
Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Brown Ideye are however picked ahead of Ighalo for today’s tie
Ighalo, who had scored 16 goals this season, has gone 11 league games without finding the net
“After you play at the weekend you have to fly to and play with the national team. You then play twice in six or seven days after a long flight. I remember that [in March] I flew from here to Nigeria. It was seven hours. Then we flew to Egypt, back again to Nigeria and then back to England,” he said
Paul Ighalo passed away just hours after his son had played for the Hornets during the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace