Dimitar Berbatov has challenged Odion Ighalo to go out and prove Manchester United were right to extend his loan deal.
Ighalo was expected to return to parent club Shanghai Shenhua at the end of last week following the expiration of his loan.
However, United made the move to keep the former Nigeria international until January 2021.
Also Read: Shaw: Why Ighalo Is Important At Manchester United
Ighalo has impressed during his short time at the club, scoring four goals in eight games in all competitions.
But Berbatov believes the 30-year-old now has to ‘fight’ for a long-term deal.
“It is great news, for club and player, United have extended the loan of Odion Ighalo,” Berbatov told Betfair.
“The way he linked with the other players, his interaction with the team and everything he did was top quality for the time he was given to play.
“Now, Ighalo has a massive challenge ahead of him to prove that it was the right decision from the club.
“Now that he’s staying until 31 January 2021, why not go out there and show the club why he should stay for even longer?
“Why not fight for a permanent contract? He’s a great boost for the team and it puts United in a strong position.”
Prior to when the season was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak United were on an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions and fighting for Champions League qualification.
With the Premier League now set to resume later this month, Solskjaer’s side will have to overturn a three-point deficit to take Chelsea’s place in fourth spot.
Berbatov added: “Make no mistake, this is a massive opportunity for United and they know it.
“Hopefully, they will be prepared for that challenge because three points are nothing, if they win their first game back and Chelsea slip up then the three points aren’t an issue anymore, it can be as easy as that.
“But on the other hand, if United slip up and Chelsea win it will be six points, so they also have to be careful, there can be no room for error.”
By James Agberebi
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COMMENTS
February 1, 2020; Former Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has slammed Manchester United’s loan move for Odion Ighalo describing it as an act of “desperation”, Completesports.com reports.
“I am not sure if it’s the right one, if I’m honest – not for Man Utd,” Warnock said on Sky Sports.
“I just think it is too up in the air. I don’t think he has been that consistent and I don’t think he is the right type of player.
And Warnock was not convinced it would be a good move for the club.
February 1, 2020; Ex Manchester United captain Gary Neville says he is virtually speechless at the club’s late deal for Odion Ighalo.
Ighalo has proven Premier League experience and the deal is low risk from United’s perspective.
Neville sent a message out explaining his bemusement at how the situation reached this point, while also adding he hopes the Nigerian is a big success.
“I’ve been trying to find the words to describe what I think about the Ighalo signing. I can’t …
P.S. I’m hoping the lad does brilliantly by the way,”Neville tweeted.
February 8, 2020; Paul Merson, has expressed his fears that Manchester United could sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if shock loan signing Odion Ighalo fails to impress.
He 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.
May 11, 2020; Gary Neville has advised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against the purchase of Odion Ighalo this summer as he doubts the Nigerian is worth £20million.
Neville doubts United can afford to spend £20m on a back-up forward and he’s told Solskjaer to back out of a move.
Speaking on Instagram Live, Neville answered a question on Ighalo’s future.
‘Is ighalo worth £20m?’ said Neville. ‘Probably not in this market. He may have been if he continued before scoring goals but you probably don’t need now to spend £20m’.
These three guys; Neville, Warnock & Merson….I am still waiting for them to come out and revise their statements about Odion Ighalo…. And I bet you, they will not do such a thing!
These are the type of people that will sit on the edge and hope Ighalo fails to back up their myopic and charcoal sense of judgement.
Odion Ighalo might score a hattrick against a top club side to win a trophy for man utd and miss a penalty against a small club in a friendly formality match, and these men will come out and criticize!!!
These are some of the reasons why these men can NEVER manage a soccer team or football club to glory!!!
Their mindset is narrow and they tends to judge the future like if they are gods !!!
In life, you watch what you say because the future is always pregnant!
Man can NEVER BE a GOD !!!
Odion Ighalo….go and keep proving them wrong!!!!
Tnks so much for dis and for believing in Odion Ighalo..Am so sure he will prove dos pundits wrong ..
Prince, the sentiments in this write up are so similar to one I produced in the recent past, that some might be tempted to think we are the same person!
Gary Neville, Neil Warnock and Paul Merson. The “terrible trio”, as far as I’m concerned. The 3 musketeers of mischief.
These 3 guys were so vehement in their criticism of Ighalo when they were about to sign him, only for them to crawl back into their rat holes with their tails between their legs when Ighalo started shaking the net left, right and center. The silence from these 3 misfits has been deafening! And as you rightly said, we won’t hear a pin drop from them as long as Ighalo keeps performing. But the day he stumbles, these 3 will come out like hungry lions.
Talk about narrow minds. Myopic perspectives. And the racist undertone is right there in plain sight. It is killing them to think that an African man is thriving at Man United. Warnock and Merson are frustrated mediocrities, so no big surprise there. But Neville, I actually expect more from him, intellect wise. The man is just a hot mess. He tried his hands at management, and that ended in disgrace. Now, his job is controversial punditry.
I hope these 3 have big enough mouths, because Ighalo’s performances necessitate the “foot in mouth” eventuality. And the eventuality hopefully will perpetuate, as Ighalo continues where he left off – banging in goals with reckless abandon when the season reopens!
They too must have named their whatsapp group “The Patriotic Progressives” when they where doing their naked dance of shame back then. Sometimes I wonder if Sunny Ade and Bright Chimezie have used their vocal cords to play 7 octaves. Their silence has been incredibly deafening for a long while now…..LMAO
@Prince , Nice write up .
That is the western world for you , they will go extra mile over hyped , over packaged their own products/ players / coaches and would go multiple miles to destroy or slow down the career of the black players , that is why today no major top rated Club dares gives opportunity to the black goalkeeper no matter how good he is , racism everywhere, in Italy, in England , in Spain , in Germany it is the same story WORST story , JJ Okocha declared that he never knew he was black until he got to Germany, Baloteli appeal to other African players to pool resources together to build stadiums in Africa continent and leave foreign land with their racism .
It is not only in football , it is everywhere , we can all see how Mike Tyson career was cut down , Henry Akinwale betrayal by his trainer, how Bob Marley was wasted , how Princess Diana was wasted just because she wanted to marry African for that matter, today the almighty USA ( the defender of human rights) is boiling over racism.
Madagascar just pull out of WHO because of discrediting her potent medicine to cure Corona Virus ( The white cannot stand it , how can ordinary African country for that matter did what white is yet to achieve ).
Unfortunately, black is always black with black man mentality from Nigeria to the western world, they destroy their own , they de marketed their own and work against their fellow blacks, go to USA black Americans are the worst enemies of their fellow blacks from Africa, in South Africa, it is the black SA that kills blacks from other African nations … it is too bad , African mentality of recolonization of minds !!! Siasia was accused of match fixing ( FIFA did not bother to carry out proper investigation, they jumped into conclusion,” to them , a coach that was owed several months of salary , that was stranded in another country and at the mercy of another country before his team can purchase flight tickets for his team to be in in a tournament without salary and without allowance, definitely such black coach would be prone to match fixing , Bum , Banned for life ! ) what is the reaction of his fellow countrymen, even without helping the poor Siasia to raise the huge money required for appeal ? They already crucified Siasia.
Siasia beat all the white team coached to win silver in U20 WC and Sliver in Olympic Games rated next to the WC ( how was he appreciated by his fellow Nigerians with their pull him Down syndrome of black man inferiority complex ? Se bi Na age grade tournament, forgetting that the world football power Brazil used a retiring ageless Bebeto in the same Olympic Games in the past yet couldn’t win the same sliver that Siasia won with exciting football mass attack and mass defence .
Siasia , Oliseh just as the past Nigerian coaches were employed by their fellow Nigerians NFF and the same NFF would wickedly treated their fellow Nigerians to several months of unpaid salary ( as they cannot do business of padded salary they do with their accomplices foreign coaches ) , where Siasia would have to many times be at the mercy of his players , where Oliseh would have to throwing the towel having funded his team from his pocket with unpaid salary for good 6 months , yet NFF administrators that subjected their countrymen to this unfortunate exposures are all Nigerians including Amaju that ensured regular payment to foreign coach as in the case with Rohr . Keshi won Afcon with technical dexterity plus audacity to inject players from our written off local league and got to the second round of WC, how was he rewarded by his fellow Nigerians (NFF & average Nigerian fans ) with their pull him down black man mentality? It was sack by his countrymen NFF with backing of unpaid salary and his fellow Nigerians with black man Pull him Down mentality “where are the local league players today, they would ask , se bi Keshi dey collect bribe from players , while an average timid foreign Coach Rohr who was bundled out in the first round of WC, schooled in the rudimentary of football lesson by another African local coach in Afcon, was fraudulently rewarded with padded 95% salary increment plus $90k allowance that is not in the contract …
….. what a wicked world !! Recolonization of mind , yet some people would want to blackmail the progressives group as racist because we did not joining in their black man’s Pull me Down syndrome of recolonization of mind and celebrating mediocrity of winning not Olympic Games gold , Sliver but Afcon bronze ( are we coursed as black nation ?) .
Now that the new Sheriff in town honourable Spots Minister had rightly declared to Rohr and his business partners NFF that , there is no BUSINESS as usual again and that never again would Nigeria nation celebrate mediocrity of wining Afcon bronze but Gold or nothing else ( as recommended by the progressives group ) , they are venting their frustration on us by calling us names , rather than appreciating us .
I refused to be blackmailed by the group with inferiority complex with African mentality of celebrating mediocrity . Nigeria is not Togo , not Tanzania , not Gabon , we must also learn to play world football politics by protecting, promoting and packaging our own players/ coaches and products as the western world also do