Former Super Eagles striker, now Manchester United new signee, Odion Ighalo has disclosed how his mother goes emotional after she learnt that he lands a deal with the English Premier League Club.
In an interview with the MUTV, the 30-years-old footballer revealed that his mother cried when she received the news of his loan transfer from Chinese club Shanghai Greenland Shenhua to Manchester United.
“I had also had sleepless nights because of the transfer,” said Ighalo.
Ighalo said that to him, being the first Nigerian to play for Manchester United makes him emotional.
Speaking about his transfer to Old Trafford, He said; “Yeah, it was very dramatic. My agent called me the day before and said, ‘Man United.’ A few other clubs had shown interest, I said, ‘please, just pick United, if it’s going to be possible.”
“At 11 pm in Shanghai, my agent called me that United wanted to do the deal, so I woke up that night and started looking for a translator to go to the directors’ room and hit his door and all that. ‘My agent wants to speak to you, United are coming for me, you have to make this happen’, and all that, you know. So, they started talking and discussing.”
“I didn’t sleep throughout that night, because it was going to end at 7 am, Shanghai time, and the transfer window was going to close there. So, from 11 pm, there was paperwork, negotiating for the loan deal, and all that. So, we were talking and other teams were calling them, wanting me, but I told my agent that this is what I want. I want to come here.”
He reveals further that his agent told him that he will have a pay-cut if he opts for Manchester United, “I don’t care. Make this deal happen,” he replied.
“He said you’re going to get a pay-cut to go to United. I said I don’t care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don’t care how much is the pay-cut; I know that, make it happen. So the director and everybody didn’t know what to say anymore, because I had already made up my mind, so my agent started putting it in order, and, at 5 am, we finished.”
He added, “My agent said he’d forwarded all the papers to United, they will confirm for me if everything is okay. I think, around 5 am-6 am, he said everything is okay, it’s done. I was excited. I called my mum and she was happy, crying and all that. This is your dream and all that and I’m happy for you. It was dramatic, I didn’t sleep through, I was very happy that finally, we got the deal done.”
TGM understands that Ighalo’s deal with Manchester United will last for the space of six-month.
