Following the announcement that he will wear the No. 25 jersey at the club, Odion Ighalo has explained the reason behind his decision to pick the number.
The 30-year-old Nigerian joined Manchester United from Shanghai Shenhua in a deal that will keep him at Old Trafford until the end of the season. He will be putting on the jersey famously worn by Antonio Valencia who left United last season.
In in his first interview with United’s official website, Ighalo revealed he would have loved to put on the No. 24 or number nine shirt, but the two numbers were not available.
The former Super Eagles star wore the No. 24 jersey at Watford, while he had the number nine jersey at Shanghai Shenhua. But the two numbers are presently occupied by Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Anthony Martial respectively.
When asked why he decided to go for the No 25 jersey, the former Watford man told United’s website: “No.19 was available because, when I was at Watford, I put on 24. No.24 is not available. In Shanghai no.9, it’s not available, so I said 24 + 1 is 25, so I said okay, let me go for 25 instead of 19.”
Ighalo also revealed his love affair with Man United started during the time of Andy Cole and because his siblings support the club.
“Yeah, when we were young back in Nigeria we used to watch the Premier League on TV a lot, when the likes of Andy Cole used to play, Ighalo told United’s website
People support Man United a lot back there in Nigeria, so I developed that love, because all of my siblings, they are Man United fans.
I never thought this was going to happen, but dreams do come true, so I’m very happy to be here and this is going to be a big and good challenge for me in my career”, he added.
Ighalo will get the chance to make his Man Utd debut when Solskjaer’s men travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on February 17.