Odion Ighalo’s tempting lure of mega cash from his Chinese club is too much to ignore, IKENWA NNABUOGOR tells the former Granada striker to put his mouth where the money is…
Never in the history of Nigerian football has any Nigerian player been dangled this tempting carrot – £400k a week wage – Shanghai Shenhua are offering Odion Ighalo.
No Nigerian player – active and retired – has ever come close to this mega cash in their life time. It will take some damning guts for Ighalo to turn down this offer to remain at Old Trafford.
Shanghai Shenhua had quickly moved to grab their most prized jewel back to Shanghai when Manchester United suggested to make permanent his loan move for a fee in the region of around £15 million.
The former Watford marksman had arrived The Theatre of Dreams on winter transfer deadline day last January to begin the most talked about loan deal in the history of English Premiership in recent times.
Ighalo defied a barrage of criticisms especially from United legends to force some humble pies down their throats with his breath-taking performances that saw only not only net four times in eight appearances, but emerge United’s Player of the Month for February.
Now back to the main crux of the matter – the cash, £400k a week wage offered by his Chinese club to ferry him back to the industrial city known for manufacturing, fashion and the neon lights.
In this clime, players are judged by what they make out of their post careers investment wise and most importantly, keeping heads above water financially.
This hefty pay will guarantee the future for Ighalo and his family for generations if well managed and turning down this fantastic offer may turn out to be counter-productive in the long run.
Ighalo got nothing to prove anymore, he’s lived his dreams of donning his childhood club’s colours, but making the most of his illustrious career money wise should be his top priority for now.
Remember he’s approaching 31 and in his peak and after that slowing down naturally comes knocking on the door.
Vintage Ighalo still got some three to four years of great active football left in him and grabbing those fantastic carrots Shenhua are dangling could secure his future forever.
A quick look at some older players who got to the zenith of their careers abroad should make Ighalo and his camp think twice and grab this mouth-watering offer.
One thing is for sure, football is business, just like every other profession and Ighalo should think more of this and settle his future comfortably.
Ighalo’s offer has also proved that African players can also be adequately valued like their European and South American counterparts who have also taken the driver’s seat in terms of take-home pay.
Could Ighalo be thinking of hanging on at United with a view to grabbing club honours?
His honour’s cabinet is virtually empty, but that should not be a problem for the proven striker.
United have not been top title contenders of late and a turn around to this could take some time to come with rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea not showing signs of slowing down in their quest for major honours.
Apart from money that will come in full, assured supply at Shanghai Shenhua, grabbing both club and individual titles could also be assured and subsequently find their way into his honours’ cabinet that already has an AFCON top scorer’s award.
This is the time to grab an everlasting fortune which United cannot guarantee.
