Manchester United’s new striker Odion Ighalo has revealed that all the goals he scores for the Red Devils will be dedicated to his sister after she tragically passed away last December.
The Nigerian frontman sealed a loan switch to Old Trafford on deadline day in January.
And he could make his debut against Chelsea on Monday having trained alone in Manchester while the rest of the squad was in Marbella on a warm-weather training camp.
Ahead of his bow for United, Ighalo has opened up on a recent family tragedy that left him heartbroken in December.
The 30-year-old’s sister Mary Atole, 42, died suddenly at the end of last year at her home in Canada, and the former Watford man admits that he has struggled to come to terms with the loss along with the rest of his family.
“I feel very emotional because it has not really struck me that my sister is gone forever and I am never going to see her again,’ the frontman revealed to The Sun.
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“Sometimes when I am alone and I just remember her, I have one sharp pain in my heart.
“My twin sister, Akhere, will call me, crying, saying she misses her and, sometimes when I am alone, I cry too.
“It is a very painful loss but I am trying to be strong as a man.”
In an attempt to honour, Ighalo has her name etched into his boots, and he has revealed that her name will also be on a t-shirt under his United strip, no doubt coming out upon celebrating if the Nigerian manages to score a debut goal.
“Every goal I score from now until I finish my career will be dedicated to God and to her,” Ighalo continued.
“I have written her name on my special white T-shirt and put her name on my boots.
“I want to show the world she is always with me.”
