Matterazzi: Ighalo Still Relevant to Watford

Watford’s out-of-form striker Odion Ighalo still has a future at the club despite losing his place in the team, insists his manager Walter Mazzarri.

Ighalo attracted the interest of a host of big clubs – and was the subject of a £37.5 million bid from Chinese club Shanghai SIPG in the summer after scoring 13 Premier League goals before the turn of the year last season.

But the 27-year-old Nigeria international found the back of the net on just two occasions in the second half of Watford’s campaign, and he has scored just once in the league this term.

Boss Mazzarri changed his formation following Watford’s 6-1 thrashing at Liverpool on November 6, and Ighalo was dropped to the bench for the ensuing matches against Leicester and Stoke.

But speaking ahead of his side’s trip to West Brom on Saturday, the Italian insisted he does not want Ighalo to leave the club when the transfer window opens next month.

‘I speak about what I know and I speak about what I have seen so far this season,’ Mazzarri said. ‘He is a player that I like and I trust very much.

‘When he was in a good condition at the beginning of the year he played, and started the games. Of course he is a player that we need.

‘He is in competition at the same level with all the other strikers, and if we want to grow as a club and in the future go further in competitions, then you need to have at least six important strikers and Ighalo is one of them.’