Jude Odion Ighalo (born 16 June 1989) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for English Premier League club Manchester United, on loan from Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of the Chinese Super League. 
After starting his career at Nigerian club side Prime and Julius Berger, Ighalo moved to Norwegian club Lyn in 2007. A year later, he was signed by Italian club Udinese, spending most of his tenure on two separate loan spells with Spanish club Granada.
In 2014, he signed for Championship club Watford and was integral in the club’s promotion to the Premier League in the 2014–15 season. In January 2017, Ighalo joined Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai for a reported £20 million, before moving onto Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. In January 2020, Ighalo returned to the Premier League, joining Manchester United on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.
Odion Ighalo made his debut for the Nigeria national team in March 2015 against Uganda. He represented the nation at the 2018 World Cup and was the highest goalscorer in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign. He eventually led Nigeria to a third-place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where he finished in the competition’s Team of the Tournament and was crowned top scorer.
The Manchester United striker is also a philanthropist of repute, he owns the Ighalo Orphanage Home he opened in Ijegun, a poverty-stricken suburb in Lagos Nigeria. Ighalo who grew some 50km away from his orphanage home in Ajegunle.
“Life was tough growing up in Ajegunle and I vowed that if I eventually had a breakthrough, I’ll give back to the society that made me,” the 30-year-old said on the Foundation’s website. “Life’s challenges were hard enough even with both parents at my side.
Jude Odion Ighalo is currently not sure where his future lies since his loan contract with Manchester United is almost over with barely a week for it to expire there’s no sign of Man United set to sign him on a permanent contract.
Ighalo’s Chinese parent club has asked him to return back to the Greenland training ground in Shanghai. Though if he returns to Shanghai Shenhua his contract has been improved with the Chinese side ready to pay him a whooping £400,000 per week.
Photo Credit: Getty
