Manchester United’s on-loan striker Odio Ighalo expressed his grief over not being able to complete the season with the club as COVID-19 pandemic suspended all sporting fixtures in the United Kingdom and hoped for an extension of his loan.
“I would like to finish the season if it’s possible,” Ighalo told the BBC. “I was in good form, good shape, scoring goals and now we’ve stopped now for over a month. I’ve given it my best and hopefully we’ll come back to play.”
“The team had a good momentum before the pandemic started. At the moment I’m on loan, and this will cut short my time at the club,” he added.
The 30-year-old Nigerian striker Ighalo was brought to the Old Trafford club on a loan from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua until the end of the season.
He was taken into the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer-managed side as a desperate move to bolster the Manchester United attack which was badly hit by Marcus Rahford’s injury and out-of-touch Anthony Martial.
Ighalo had earlier played in English club Watford from 2014 to 2017 before leaving for Chinese team Changchun Yatai. In his 82 appearances for Watford, Ighalo had netted 33 goals. He also has 16 international goals under his name in 35 appearances for the Nigerian national team.
Ighalo scored four goals in eight games in all competition of United and was in the scoresheet against LASK in a Europa League last-16 tie which was also United’s last game before the season was suspended.
“The club, myself, every footballer is going through a lot because we can’t do what we love and what we know how to do best, so we’re just thinking about that for now and to finish the season before we start thinking about the contract,” said Ighalo.
“I just want everyone to be safe and see what the future holds.”