Arsenal hero and former England international, Paul Merson, has expressed his fears that Manchester United could sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if shock loan signing Odion Ighalo fails to impress.
And Mersonalso reckons executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward could face the axe, with the pressure on the two Red Devils bosses after a miserable campaign.
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United got Ighalo on loan from Shanghai Shenhua as a replacement for the injured Marcus Rashford.
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, now at Borussia Dortmund and Bournemouth’s Josh King were among a variety of late options before United settled for Ighalo.
Ighalo, 30, scored 16 times in 55 Premier League appearances for Watford but Merson doubts whether he has the ability to shine at Old Trafford.
Writing in his column for the Daily Star, Merson, a league, FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup winner at Arsenal said: “Odion Ighalo could be the final straw at Manchester United.
“If that signing is a disaster then Ed Woodward and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are in big trouble.
“Don’t get me wrong. He could rediscover the form he once he had at Watford and be a huge success. But he could be the biggest laughing stock the Premier League has ever seen.
“Only time will tell.
“But remember, the last time he was here he only scored once in 18 games before Watford sold him and he’ll have gotten lazy playing in China.”
Merson pointed to comparisons with Celtic and Sweden legend Henrik Larsson, who joined United on loan aged 35 and impressed in his short stint in 2007.
But the France 1998 World Cup star does not believe Ighalo has the experience to emulate the Swede’s success.
He added: “I’ve heard people compare it with Henrik Larsson because nobody expected him to still be any good when United signed him either.
“But Larsson had been world class. He had scored goals in major tournaments and won big trophies. And he still had his finishing and his movement.
“Ighalo doesn’t have any of that on his CV and he’s coming into a struggling team. The biggest one he’s ever played for.
“It’s a big ask, and if it all goes horribly wrong it will just pile more pressure on the manager because you’re always judged on your signings as well as your results.”
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COMMENTS
Who the hell is Paul Merson? Only know a brand of goat cheese called Paul Merson and quite surprising to read cheese could speak. Well,Ole is gonna be next Alex Ferguson while the hangs man loop is already dangling around Warnock, and you lot brain dead racist wishing Ighalo to fail. HE WILL SPARKLE LIKE A PRESCIOUS DIAMOND AND NOTHING YOU LOT CAN DO ABOUT THAT. THERE SHALL BE NO ENCHANTMENT AND DIVINATION AGAINST IGHALO IN JESUS NAME AMEN.
Glory, you dey mind this English men? The next thing we will soon here is that if Ighalo flops, the Old trafford stadium will burn down, and maybe Sir Alex will go bald! Hehehehe! They are so defeated and frustrated that a big club like Man United signed Ighalo. Na early morning for them. Some of them will just have to jump into the river Thames last last! Yeye people!
@Pompei, no doubt, there are loads of absolutely decent white folks who don’t tolerate that sick line between us coloured men n they colourless. Very open to all. These ones are like angels. But others like Warnuts, sorry Warnock, Paul Merson etc suffering badly from inferiority complex only draw confidence from establishments that represents the colourless, reason they never stop tearing apart their pants when a coloured person gets recognised by that their over hyped establishments. Meghan Merkel’s case is an example.
Correct. My reference to English men does not imply that all English people are racist. That would be fallacious reasoning. If only the good were not so outnumbered by the bad! The racist English mistreat everyone who is not English, even their fellow Brits (especially the Scottish). I recall a game in Euro 1996, ENGLAND VS HOLLAND. England had a 4-1 lead, and the English fans were chanting – THEY’RE EVEN WORSE THAN SCOTLAND! Implying that the Dutch were just as bad as the Scottish, who in the eyes of the English, are pretty much useless.
Some might put this down to mere joking around, but it seemed to be in such poor taste! Draw your own conclusions. When people like Warnock and Merson utter speech that is covertly racist, it goes to illustrate what a gigantic fight football authorities face in their quest to stamp racism out of the game. Let’s hope Ighalo forces these folks to put their feet in their mouth, starting this coming Monday!
Very true @ Pompeii. Thumbs up.
Amen!!!
From what is worth..
There is a bit of truth in what Merson has stated;some of his worry (and those of some United and British fans) are genuine.
The fact is ,a club like Man United is built on the notion on being the best and for the best.based on her past precedence,her standard is higher than what Ighalo can offer.
But that Manchester United doesn’t exist right now.
This Manchester united right now is totally not the same like in the past.they have fallen off the standard they used to be.they are far from it. And Ighalo has proven within the shortest of time, he can actually deliver. His records says so.
Ighalo is far better than the Anders Perriera,Jesse Lingard,Chong, and more experienced than Martial and Greenwood; at least in the forward line.
So if all these players play for Manchester united without anyone really throw a real feat,than why can’t Ighalo come in?!.
I am not soothsayer but I believe I have been in football for long enough to know Ighalo would succeed in Manchester United.
His passion, his mind set and his skill set would make that happen. The way Man united are set up suits Ighalo good. And coming in from 2019 till now,he is in good form.
It is just disappointing that the West have no regard for the Afcon to understand that the tournament is one of the hardest on earth. Forget the quality right now. I am talking about raw grit and passion. Afcon is bone to bone. And Ighalo came out tops.
The Chinese league is lower in standard than Premiership but players such like Witsel,Paulinho,Carassco have all been brought back to the elite clubs in Europe from the Chinese league and have done exceptionally well.
Sometimes,in football,the league you play doesn’t really matter. It is individuals that make up leagues and not the way round. Every game depends on the personality involved. Ighalo has a strong personality.
He has shown over time that he can come back from the dead to deliver.. he did it with Nigeria,so why not United?
Well, I guess we all would wait and time would tell. It is now up to Ighalo to do what he can. No matter what happens,Ighalo has already created history and no one can take that from him. No matter what goes down, it can never be as bad as United is right now..
Ighalo enjoy yourself..
We went chasing after python in d forest, common millipedes self wanna run. LolZ. Let the Icons like Rock Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Cantona speak, then we listen. Pls CSN save us such spaces next time and thanks.