Odion Ighalo has revealed that he took a pay cut to seal his dream move to Manchester United on loan from Shanghai Shenhua until the end of the season.
It is understood that United will pay Shanghai a £4million loan fee and Ighalo £165,000-a-week — half what he was earning in China.
The 30-year-old striker (right) was so desperate for the deal to go through that he agreed to the cut as negotiations went on long into the night on deadline day.
‘At 11pm in Shanghai, my agent called me to say that United wanted to do the deal,’ said Ighalo. ‘I started looking for a translator to go to the directors’ room and hit his door.
‘A few other clubs had shown interest and I said, “Please just pick United if it’s going to be possible”.
‘My agent said, “You’re going to get a pay cut”. I said, “Make this deal happen, I don’t care how much the pay cut is”. Around 5am or 6am he said everything was done.’
Ighalo will meet up with his new team-mates on Saturday.