Odion Ighalo has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur came close to derailing his transfer to childhood club Manchester United after they offered to match the offer of their Premier League rivals.
Ighalo will eventually move on loan from China to Manchester United, but he himself admitted Spurs were close to snatching him ahead of ‘The Red Devils’.
“That was close (Ighalo answered SkySport about Spurs interest)
“My agent called me and told me they had offered to match whatever I was earning, but once I heard Manchester United were interested, there was no turning back.
“I couldn’t think about anything else other than making the Manchester United deal work. I was going to have to take a pay cut but I didn’t care, I just wanted the deal to happen.
“I just wanted to play for Manchester United. It’s my dream club and it was always going to be a privilege for me to play at Old Trafford.”
He added: “I’m just so grateful to God that it happened. Every day I wake up and I know that I am an ex-Manchester United player.
“It is something that I will never take for granted.”
Ighalo scored five goals in 23 appearances for Manchester United before his recent transfer to Saudi Arabia.
