Super Eagles star, Odion Ighalo has been linked with a return to the English Premier League, two years after he left Watford with six Premier League clubs presently showing interest in signing him.
Ighalo notched 17 goals in 55 Premier League appearances during his time with Watford prior to his switch to Chinese Super league side, Changchun Yatai.
According to Examiner Live, a British website, the Nigerian striker is on the radar of six English Premier League teams, namely; Tottenham Hotspur, Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford, Southampton and West Ham while Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are also reportedly keen on the striker’s services.
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Ighalo is currently the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers leading marks-man. The 29 year old has scored six goals in three games.
The former Udinese and Granada star finished the Chinese Super League season on a high, scoring 21 goals in 28 CSL games but it was not enough to save Changchun Yatai from relegation.
He will look to team up with a new side before the start of a new CSL season.
By Johnny Edward
7 Comments
Watford are not interested in Ighalo. They are doing very well (between 7th and 8th in the league) with a crop of young players. They will not upset the apple cart now as adding an ageing striker to the mix will be dangerous. They are not desperate unlike several others (Huddersfield) who need goals and points to stay up. It’s the likes of them who will be ready to take a risk which may or not work
is there any thing personal between u any Igalo?…………..
No, I spoke to a couple of die-hard long term season ticket holders at Watford and I asked them that question and that was their assessment. These people are at Vicarage Road every time Watford are playing at home and know the club inside out.
They have quite a few “older players in attack” – Troy Deeney, Pereyra, Andre Grey and are looking for younger players to reduce the average age of the team. They also have some younger players coming through. I’d be very surprised if they are wrong
Good for the SE then, as playing in the EPL will enable him to sharpen his skills and stay on top of his game.
…on the flip slide, the team’s top scorers are the moment are Roberto Peryra and Troy Deeney with 6 and 5 epl goals respectively. So an opportunity to sign a fan favorite like Ighalo on a free transfer is one whc makes plenty of business sense for watford. Recall Ighalo’s epl record with watford stands at 17 goals in 55 matches….that’s about 1 goal every 3 games……not to talk of his 20 in 35 matches for the same club whilst they were in the championship and the 36 in 55 matches in his 2 yr sojourn in the chinese super lig. In the run down towards the end of the league, the push for European places is bound to intensify, and having let go of Stephano Okaka on loan, it will only make sense to sign a striker who already knows the club and whom the club already knows, who is available on a free transfer as a replacement. They might be on the 7th position now, but only 3 points separates them from the 12th placed team on the log. With troy deeney (5) goals, andy gray (3) goals, Isaac Succes (1) being the only 3 of 6 listed strikers to have registered goals this season. Signing ighalo might just be a good bargain for the team. Going buy his 1 in 3 ratio, a striker who can deliver another 5 epl goals in the remaining 15 matches b4 the season ends might not be a bad idea.
@Dr Drey, the school fees your parents paid was well utilised. Keep it up
l couldn’t agree more, thanks Dr Drey.