Manchester United’s January loan signing Odion Ighalo was left pinching himself again this week after speaking directly with childhood hero, Andy Cole who in turn wished the Nigerian forward the best of luck at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils legend netted 122 goals for United in 275 games across all competitions between 1995 and 2001. He called the Nigerian on FaceTime as part of a set-up from the club’s media team.
Ighalo was left delighted when Cole was on the other end of the call, with the clip showing the discussion published on United’s official Twitter page.
While in mid-interview with United’s media team, Ighalo suddenly gets a call on his iPhone from ‘A LEGEND IS CALLING’.
Cole appears and says: “Hi Odion, it’s Andy Cole here and I just want to welcome you to Manchester United.”
He added: “It was nice to hear that you followed my career very closely, with you being a younger man than me still playing.
“I’m going to put you on the spot here. Which was your best Andy Cole goal?”
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Ighalo replied: “Ah, there was a lot of goals I watched you score, I can’t even pick one!
“But I remember a goal where you brought the ball down on your chest and shot inside the box – that was one of my great goals watching when I was younger.”
Cole continues: “Preparation is vital when playing for a club like Manchester United. Here’s a quick question, how do you find yourself getting in the zone? Because playing for Manchester United is just not a normal football club. Will it change?”
Ighalo replies: “Yeah I’ve been training with the team for some time now, it’s been great. It’s a big club. When you’re outside you see Manchester United, but now you’re in and you know how big the club is so I’m working every day to be fit, to do what it takes to be a success in this team.”
Cole ends by saying: “Me personally I just want to wish you the best at Manchester United and I hope things work out for you extremely well just like I wish everything works out extremely well until the end of the season for the rest of the team.”
Starstruck Ighalo says: “Thanks very much Andy, I really appreciate this call. This means a lot to me. Now I can go back to working hard and making you proud, thank you.”
Ighalo grabbed his first United goal last Thursday, netting in their Europa League round of 32 second leg against Club Brugge.
