Odion Ighalo

Odion Jude Ighalo (born 16 June 1989) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Wehda and the Nigeria national team.

After starting his career at Nigerian clubs Prime and Julius Berger, Ighalo moved to Norwegian club Lyn in 2007.

A year later, he was signed by Italian club Udinese, spending most of his tenure on two separate loan spells with Spanish club Granada.

He made his Tippeligaen debut on 16 September 2007 at the age of just 18, scoring in a 2–0 home win against Viking.

He scored six goals in 13 matches in his second year to help his team to the seventh position, and subsequently arose interest from other clubs in the country, with Brann reporting Lyn to the Norwegian Football Federation for unfairness in the negotiation process.

On 30 July 2008, Ighalo signed for Udinese in Italy, moving alongside teammate Jo Inge Berget and agreeing to a five-year contract.

He appeared rarely in Serie A in his debut season, scoring against Cagliari in a 6–2 home routing.

Four of his five league appearances came as a late substitute.

Ighalo was loaned to Granada in summer 2009, as part of the partnership agreement between Udinese and the Spaniards.

He scored 17 times in his first year (playoffs included) and five in the second, as both seasons ended in promotion; this was interspersed with a brief loan stint back in Italy, with Cesena.

Ighalo continued playing with Granada in the following years, still owned by the Udine club.

He played his first La Liga match on 27 August 2011, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–1 home loss to Real Betis.

In 2014, he signed for Championship club Watford and was integral in the club's promotion to the Premier League in the 2014–15 season.

Ighalo joined Watford on a season-long loan deal from Udinese, on 29 July 2014.

He made his debut for the English club in the first round of the League Cup away to Stevenage on 12 August, and scored his first goal in the Championship against Brentford on 30 September by tucking the ball home after his initial penalty was saved by David Button, in a 2–1 home win.

On 24 October 2014, Watford terminated Ighalo's loan and re-signed him on a permanent deal the same day after Udinese released him from his contract.

Ighalo made his debut for the Nigeria national team in March 2015 against Uganda.

Exactly three months later, he scored four-second-half goals and was voted Man of the match in a 7–2 home routing of Blackpool, who led 0–2 at half time; he took his league tally to 14 on 10 February 2015, after netting a brace to help his team come from behind at Brentford to win it 2–1 – his second came through an injury time header.

Ighalo scored in his Premier League debut on 8 August 2015, replacing José Manuel Jurado 16 minutes from time and putting the visitors ahead 2–1 in an eventual 2–2 draw away against Everton for the season opener.

He netted twice in a 2–0 home win over West Ham United on 31 October, reaching seven goals for the season and becoming the highest club scorer in the competition after just 11 matches.

On 20 December, Ighalo scored in a Watford victory for the fourth consecutive time, netting a brace in a 3–0 win over Liverpool.

His five-goal haul earned him December's Premier League Player of the Month, while his manager Quique Sánchez Flores won the equivalent award.

Ighalo broke a 599-minute personal scoring drought on 13 March 2016, with a goal in a 2–1 win at holders Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, putting the Hornets into the last four for the first time in nine years.

On 12 August he signed a new five-year contract but, the following season, he scored just one league goal and did not find the net in any of his last 15 games.

In January 2017, Ighalo joined Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai for a reported £20 million, before moving onto Shanghai Shenhua.

On 31 January 2017, Ighalo joined Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai for a reported £20 million.

He ranked second in the scoring charts in his second season at 21, but his team suffered relegation.

He represented the nation at the 2018 World Cup and was the highest goalscorer in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign.

He eventually led Nigeria to a third place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where he finished in the competition's Team of the Tournament and was crowned top scorer.

Born in Lagos and raised in Edo, Ighalo played in his country with Prime and Julius Berger, where he was discovered by FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman who recommended him to Atta Aneke, being subsequently taken on trial by Norway's Lyn.

Ighalo transferred to Shanghai Shenhua on 14 February 2019.

In March, he said he turned down a move to Barcelona the previous month.

In January 2020, Ighalo returned to the Premier League, joining Manchester United on loan, initially until the end of the 2019–20 season; the loan was then extended until January 2021.

In March 2020, he was offered a contract extension worth over £400,000 a week by Shenhua.

On 31 January 2020, Ighalo returned to the Premier League, joining Manchester United on loan until the end of the season.

In doing so, he became the first Nigerian player, and the seventh African, to join the club.

After the move was confirmed, Ighalo revealed that he had taken a pay cut to make the move happen, calling it a "dream" to join the club he has long supported.

He opted to wear the number 25 shirt, previously worn by United's first and longest-serving African player, Quinton Fortune of South Africa.

His presence within the first team was initially blocked as a precautionary measure due to ongoing fears over the COVID-19 outbreak in China.

After three substitute appearances, Ighalo made his full debut for United in their Europa League round-of-32 second-leg match against Club Brugge on 27 February.