Odion Ighalo says he was was handed an “unfair” amount of opportunities by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his time at Manchester United.
The Nigerian forward joined the club in January 2020 on a six-month loan deal from Chinese Super League team Shanghai Shenhua.
Ighalo impressed initially, scoring five goals in as many starts, a form that eventually saw his loan deal extended until January 2021. But he started only two matches this campaign before departing.
And while Ighalo continues to “love” United, he admits he had to leave the club after he was regularly snubbed by Solskjaer.
“There wasn’t much possibility because I wanted more playing time,” Ighalo told Sky Sports when asked if he could have extended his stay with the Red devils. “At my age, I want to play and not just sit on the bench and not have any minutes.
“I didn’t just want to be there picking up a salary – I wanted to be involved so I said to my agent that if an offer comes in, I will look at it and see what’s best for me, which is what I did.
“After my initial loan was extended, I did not play much which was perhaps a bit unfair but as I said, I am always grateful for the opportunity.”
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Ighalo also opened up on the offers he rejected in the Premier League, He said: “Yeah, there was the possibility of West Ham and West Brom to stay in the Premier League, which I thought about.
“But after being at Manchester United, the biggest club in England if not the world, what else could I possibly do in the Premier League?
“I had good offers to stay in England, but I just didn’t think I could stay after achieving my dream of playing for the club I had supported since I was young.
“I came all the way from China because it was Manchester United when I had already rejected other offers because United has always been my dream.”
