Manchester United have signed striker Odion Ighalo from Shanghai Shenhua on a six-month loan deal with the option to make the move permanent in the summer.
United would likely pay between £2m and £4m for the six-month loan deal.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s desperate search to land a new centre forward on deadline day finally paid dividends with minutes to spare when it was announced a deal for Ighalo had been reached.
The player will fly to the UK over the weekend where he will be formally presented as a United player.
At 30 years of age, Ighalo would appear unlikely to be a long-term solution to the club’s striking issues, but that may suit the men from Old Trafford to not saddle themselves down to a long-term deal with the arrival once Marcus Rashford returns from his lengthy lay-off with a back injury.
However, Ighalo – who left Watford back in three years ago to the day to join Changchun Yatai in a £20million deal – has a decent record in England having netted 33 times in 83 appearances for the Hornets.
A move for the ex-Watford man was previously thought to be difficult to pull off after the current problems in China surrounding the virus, but with the first round of football fixtures in the county tipped to be called off, the Nigerian may be seeking an escape route.
The move for Ighalo was agreed in the closing hours of the window, with United first settling on an undisclosed loan fee with Shanghai Shenhua and then agreeing personal terms with the player – all over the phone.
Contracts were then exchanged on email, with the player due to arrive in the UK next week as a Manchester United player, with the the paperwork going through the TMS system in time to beat the 11pm deadline.
