Odion Ighalo on being Nigeria’s first Manchester United player, his decision to wear jersey no 25

Manchester United have had Remi Moses (a British born of Nigerian descent) in the 70s, Tosin Kehinde (Lagos born) an academy graduate who left the club in 2018.

Although both players have Nigerian heritage, Remi Moses played for England under aged national teams while Tosin Moses is yet to play a game for Nigeria.

John Obi Mikel also signed for Manchester United in 2006 but never played again for the Red Devils before he was sold to Chelsea.

These reasons meant Odion Jude Ighalo is the first Nigerian player to don the Red Devil jersey and the 30-year-old attacker has revealed how he feels about this.

“I’m really proud. I’m happy because people keep sending me messages.

“It’s a good record in your career, you’ll appreciate it when you retire.”

Odion Ighalo also revealed the reason he chose jersey number 25.

“Number 19 was available. When I was at Watford I put on 24, 24 is not available.

“In Shanghai number 9, it’s not available so I said 24 plus 1 is 25, so I said ok let me go for 25 instead of 19.”