According to Odion Ighalo’s personal trainer, the former Super Eagles of Nigeria star would like to remain at Manchester United for the rest of his career.
The striker’s future is an uncertain one: he is officially on loan at United until May 31, but the Red Devils are keen to extend this period to allow him to feature if and when the season resumes in the coming weeks.
However, Igahlo’s parent club, Shanghai Shenhua, want the player to return to their stable for the start of the next Chinese Super League season. United are also not seeking a permanent deal for the former Super Eagles spearhead.
Despite being in this awkward situation, Ighalo’s has remained focused on keeping himself fight and ready for action while under lockdown in Lagos.
“He’s a wonderful athlete, I’ve never seen someone more passionate about their job than him,” Ekemini Ekerette said.
“I think he’s in excellent physical condition. He loves the game. He just wants to train. Even if the league wasn’t going to played in the next three months he would keep training every day. He is so disciplined.
“His future was not making a difference to his intensity in training. He is just always focused on making sure he’s doing what he needs to do and then pushing himself even further.
“He’s a team player and has been talking about [Marcus] Rashford, [Anthony] Martial, [Mason] Greenwood, and how fantastic they all are, so he’s looking forward to hopefully getting to play with Rashford.
“He wants to stay and loves United, Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] and the fans and he would love to be a Red for the rest of his life.”
The trainer continued: “He’s a beast and he is ready to go right back into the game. He is a very passionate guy and you can tell that in the way he trains.
“[Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer has been happy with him from what Ighalo has told me but he always thinks and knows he can do more and he’s ready to give more.
“We’ve been working on a lot of strength work and then he’s been able to do ball drills too.
“Even if he has to go and play three games a week, he is good to go. We’ve made sure he’s done all the correct recovery and his muscles are prepared.”
