Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov has issued a challenge to Odion Ighalo to earn a permanent move from his performances. Earlier this week, Ighalo signed a six-month loan extension.
Odion Ighalo loan deal was extended until January 31 after reaching an agreement with his parent club Shanghai Shenhua. Ighalo joined Manchester United on the deadline day of the January transfer window on a six-month loan. Berbatov thinks that the Nigerian should now target a permanent move to Old Trafford.
“It is great news, for club and player, United have extended the loan of Odion Ighalo. The way he linked with the other players, his interaction with the team and everything he did was top quality for the time he was given to play,” Berbatov told Betfair.
“Now, Ighalo has a massive challenge ahead of him to prove that it was the right decision from the club. Now that he’s staying until January 2021, why not go out there and show the club why he should stay for even longer?”
Ighalo featured eight times for the Red Devils before the league was suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic. He managed to score four goals including a brace against Derby County. The Nigerian striker will be looking forward to replicating his form once football resumes after two weeks. Berbatov is also looking forward to the resumption of the Premier League.
“It’s great news that the Premier League is going to return.
“It is going to happen behind closed doors, for obvious reasons, and I am curious to see how physically and mentally prepared the teams are.
“It will be interesting to see how long it will take for games to reach a similar level of quality, speed and intensity to how they were before the stoppage. But overall this is a great step in the right direction.
“I would expect it to be quite a slow start. But there could be some surprises and some teams, like Liverpool, could resume the way the came into the break.
“It will be a challenge and maybe it will be a slow start but I would like to be proved wrong because we all like to see the quality of the Premier League.
“With no fans, even with the intensity of the Premier League, it may be like watching a friendly or a training session, similar to the way some of the matches in the Bundesliga have felt.”
Berbatov spent four seasons at the Old Trafford and featured 149 times for the Red Devils. He scored 56 goals for United in the process. He last played for Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters in 2017-18 season. After more than a year without a club, Berbatov retired in September last year.
