Manchester United striker, Odion Jude Ighalo is set to return to China this weekend, as he leaves Old Trafford at the expiration of his short term loan spell with The Red Devils, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Ighalo had been keen on getting a longer spell with United, he has been ordered back to his parent club, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of China, as his deal at Old Trafford ends this Saturday, May 30, and the Chinese Super League outfit want him to return immediately.
A report by The Times newspaper confirmed that Ighalo is set to leave Manchester on Sunday and return to Shanghai Shenhua, who have offered him a new contract worth more than £75m over four years; with a breakdown into 400,000 pounds per wee until 2024.
The 30-year-old former Super Eagles’ striker arrived at Old Trafford at the end of January on a loan deal until the end of this season, but he is now heading back to The Oriental Nation, unless there is a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations between United and Shenhua.
This is despite further reports indicating that the suspension of football action due to COVID-19 and the consequent delay to ending the season has seen all EPL teams agree that they can temporarily extend contracts of players whose deals are coming to an end this summer
United are keen to keep Ighalo, but they are unwilling to pay a fee of 20m pounds demanded by Shenhua, thereby stunting progress in negotiations with the Chinese Super League side, who now want the ex-Nigeria international back thy weekend, in order to begin preparations for the resumption of matches in the CSL.
There is no definitive date for action to resume in China, but a lack of depth means Shenhua see Ighalo as a key part of their squad and, while United’s manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hoping to add a forward to his squad in the summer transfer window, an additional report by Goal.com revealed that an offer has not been made by the club’s hierarchy to sign the star in a full deal.
Shenhua initially stated that they would be open to selling Ighalo had United made an ideal offer, but The Red Devils are now looking elsewhere for a long-term reinforcement, having reached an impasse with Shenhua over a further loan deal.
British tabloid, Daily Mail adds that United were hoping Ighalo could stay for another three months, but Shenhua have no interest in completing such an agreement, while a permanent deal has not been discussed and they have already tabled a two-year contract extension for him on improved terms of £400,000 a week.
A popular website, Sportsmole, added: “While the deal is not completely dead, Shanghai have not been open to agreeing a new one with their season due to start in June after it was delayed from February due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Ighalo scored four goals in three starts and made eight appearances in total since he was drafted in during the January transfer window. He joined as cover for Marcus Rashford, who was sidelined with a back injury. United remain in the Europa League, the FA Cup and are fifth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea with nine games remaining.”
