Al-Shabab of Saudi Arabia striker, Odion Jude Ighalo has opened up on the line of issues and factors that accounted for his move to the Middle East country last summer, saying it was mostly because he wanted a feel of something new.
With one season already gone since he left Manchester United of England for the new adventure in he Saudi Professional League, the former Super Eagles’ star insists he made the right decision in snubbing offers from several European clubs.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Ighalo, who has also previously played for Lyn Oslo of Norway, Udinese of Italy, Granada of Spain, Watford of England as well as Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Shenhua of China, added that he needed a change of scene.
With that in mind, the product of Prime FC of Oshogbo and Julius Berger FC of Lagos disclosed that he actually turned down offers from two Premier League clubs before sealing a permanent transfer to Al-Shabab in the winter transfer market.
The 32-year-old Ighalo is credited with 67 appearances in the English top-flight and has 16 goals to his name yet the soft-spoken attacker, who emerged top scorer at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations top scorer felt he needed to test ground elsewhere.
Ighalo felt that there was no point extending his stay in England after he fulfilled his childhood dream of playing for Man United and he also ended up snubbing offers from a couple of top clubs in Turkey, Spain, Qatar and Italy that were all interested in signing him.
The Flying Eagles’ captain to Egypt 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup has, however, seen his market value took a plunge despite his brilliant season with Al-Shabab, with which he hit nine goals in 13 appearances in the second half of last season.
In spite of also helping A-Shabab finish second in the table and qualify for the AFC Champions League, Ighalo took a slump from €4m to €3.5 on the latest rate cards issued by downgrade by Transfermarkt.
The experienced attacker, who celebrated his 32nd birthday this week, is the fourth most expensive Al-Shabab player, behind Fábio Martins (€9m), Éver Banega (€4.5m) and Cristian Guanca (€4m).
This is in stark contrast with his highest market value of €12m on February 9, 2016, at a time he was linked with some of the top teams in the Premier League, including Manchester United and Chelsea.
Although moving to Saudi Arabia saw his market value plummet, Ighalo stressed that he has no regrets whatsoever for the decision he took back then, as he believes he has seen the best of what football is all about in the big leagues of Europe.
Ighalo told Elegbete Sports TV: “I got an offer from two Premier League teams – West Ham and West Brom – who were ready to pay but what am I going to do in the Premier League again after playing for Manchester United?
“What other team do I want to play for to fulfill my dream? I have already fulfilled my dream, played in Watford and did well, played in Manchester United. I had offers from Turkey, from Italy, from Spain.
“I’ve played in Italy and Spain before so I wanted a different challenge, a different country, and I had an offer too from Qatar. Even I thought I would be even going to Qatar but last minute the Saudi Arabia deal came up.”
