Man Utd confirmed a deal to sign Odion Ighalo on deadline day, but it’s claimed that they had hoped to sign Joshua King from Bournemouth initially.
The Red Devils have managed just 36 goals in 24 Premier League games so far this season, giving them the lowest goalscoring tally of the top six sides in the standings.
SEE MORE: Solskjaer on why Man Utd made late swoop for Odion Ighalo on deadline day
Coupled with Marcus Rashford’s injury setback this month, it was arguably obvious that they needed to draft in an attacking reinforcement before the deadline.
According to the Daily Mail, United were keen to sign King from Bournemouth, but his £40m valuation forced them to abandon that particular pursuit as they offered just £20m.
With such a huge difference between the two parties and with time running out, it’s perhaps no surprise that they decided to look elsewhere, as the report adds that they then informed their Premier League rivals that they would be looking elsewhere.
That search took them to Ighalo who now returns to the Premier League after his previous stint with Watford, and the 30-year-old will be tasked with adding a new dynamic and depth in the final third to help Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men compete on multiple fronts between now and the end of the season.
As for King, the 28-year-old has managed just three goals and two assists in 17 appearances so far this campaign, and given he has missed the last four league games due to injury, it perhaps wouldn’t have been the most sensible of signings from a Man Utd perspective anyway.
Particularly given that they need an immediate boost with Rashford sidelined, King may not have been the ideal answer especially at that price, and so now they’ll hope that Ighalo can have a big impact at Old Trafford in the coming weeks.
? #MUFC can confirm that Odion Ighalo will join us on loan from Shanghai Shenhua until the end of the season.
Welcome, Odion! ?
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 1, 2020