Why I left England for China – Ighalo

Former Super Eagles and Manchester United striker, Jude Odion Ighalo, has explained why he had to leave English team, Watford for Chinese Super League side, Changchun Yatai.

The Nigerian achieved his lifelong dream of playing in the English Premier League in 2014 when he joined Watford from Granada and then helped them gain promotion to the English top-flight. Ighalo scored 20 goals and provided three assists in 35 EFL Championship games in that season.

The following season, he scored 15 Premier League goals, but then moved to Changchun Yatai.

Ighalo who spoke on the Echo Podcast, said he went to China for the money since he had already accomplished his dream of playing in the English Premier League.

“I was 27 at the time. I’d fulfilled my personal dream of playing in the English Premier League. When I was growing up in Ajegunle, I didn’t even know I’d get to the level I got to.

“I just wanted to make a few bucks to change my family and make them proud, alongside a dream to play in the Premier League because I watched the league a lot. It’s the most viewed in the World.

“Back then, we used to pay to sit at the viewing centre, lapping each other to watch the television.

 “The dream already came true for me, so when the offer from China came, I said it was an opportunity to make money, and I decided to grab it.

“The club already accepted the offer without my consent because it was good money for them. They accepted £20m, because no team would pay that.

“I signed a four-year contract with Changchun Yatai, but I played two years there before moving to Shanghai Shenhua, with even more money because I did so well, scoring 36 goals in 53 or 54 games for the initial two years.

“I played one year at Shanghai before going on loan to Manchester United,” the Al-Wehda striker said.

Just as he has narrated, Ighalo returned to the English Premier League in 2020 when Manchester United came calling. The Red Devils were ravaged by injuries at the time and decided to make a loan move for the Nigerian forward.

In his time at Old Trafford, he scored five goals in nineteen outings for the Record English Premier League Champions.

Soccernet.ng