Gary Neville slams Man Utd's "desperate" deadline day signing of Odion Ighalo

Ighalo was signed by Manchester United during the last hours before the January transfer window shut on Friday night, much to the surprise of football fans, as they expected a much more stellar name like Edison Cavani following Marcus Rashford’s aggravated back injury.

On the last day of the transfer window, United attempted to sign Bournemouth ace Joshua King, which failed, before making enquires for Danny Ings and Teemu Pukki – which were both rejected.The club then had to settle for former Watford striker Odion Ighalo,

According to Neville, a former captain of the club, United knew they needed a striker all summer but couldn’t sign one, yet they waited till the last hours of the transfer window to get one over the line.

“I think Ighalo, they just needed a body in that area. Obviously Rashford is going to be out for a couple of months.

“I can’t let the club off the hook though, unfortunately.

“The idea that Lukaku told us a couple of weeks ago that he’d said he was going to leave last February, March.
“That’s nine months for the club to be able manoeuvre and get into a position to sign a striker for the club for the long term.

“They’ve ended up desperately doing one on deadline day. The boy might do very well, he might settle in, he might score goals and do a job for the club.

“But the fact the club are in that position, knowing that Sanchez and Lukaku were leaving for many, many months, tells me that Manchester United at this moment in time are struggling to navigate through the transfer market smartly.”

Ighalo netted 36 times in 90 Premier League appearances for the Hornets before he was sold for £20million to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. He will team up with his new teammates this week once he has passed a medical.