Newcastle United now seem to realize that a huge bag of money has not yet convinced the real top players to play at St. James’ Park from January. The Magpies have been linked to various big names for months, but according to Sky Sports now in on a more realistic reinforcement: Odion Ighalo must provide Newcastle with goals in the second half of the season.
Newcastle have already reached out to Ighalo, who has said they will seriously consider an offer from the wealthy English club. A disadvantage for Newcastle is that the 32-year-old striker will go to the Africa Cup with Nigeria and will therefore not be available immediately. Ighalo has been playing for the Saudi Arabian Al-Shabab since February of this year, which took over the center striker from Shenhua from China for several million. Ighalo manages to find the net in the Middle East effortlessly and is on 18 goals in 26 duels for Al-Shabab.
Ighalo is best known from his time in the Premier League. The Nigerian striker impressed Watford in the 2015/16 season, scoring 15 goals in 37 league appearances. After adventures in China, Ighalo returned to England for a full calendar year from January 2020 to play on loan at Manchester United. There, the attacker acted as a stand-in, scoring 5 goals in 23 official matches.
Newcastle has been regarded as the richest football club in the world since its takeover by a Saudi Arabian consortium. The club is in urgent need of reinforcements as Eddie Howe’s squad is heading for relegation from the Premier League in 19th place. A player like Ighalo stood according to Sky Sports Certainly not at the top of Newcastle’s list of desired reinforcements, but the club has recently learned how difficult it is to sign big names. The Magpies can easily meet all salary requirements, but many players – one year before the World Cup in Qatar – are not interested in playing relegation football.
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