Odion Jude Ighalo (born 16 June 1989) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club Al Hilal and the Nigeria national team. After starting his career at Nigerian clubs

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

and Julius Berger, Ighalo moved to Norwegian club Lyn in 2007. A year later, he was signed by Italian club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

, spending most of his tenure on two separate loan spells with Spanish club

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. In 2014, he signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

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 The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

for a reported £20 million, before moving onto

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

. In January 2020, Ighalo returned to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, joining

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on loan, initially until the end of the 2019–20 season; the loan was then extended until January 2021. Ighalo made his debut for the Nigeria national team in March 2015 against Uganda. He represented the nation at the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

and was the highest goalscorer in the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the 32nd edition of the international men's football champion ...

campaign. He eventually led Nigeria to a

third place In sociology, the third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places include churches, cafes, clubs, public ...

finish at the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

, where he finished in the competition's Team of the Tournament and was crowned top scorer.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

and raised in Edo, Ighalo played in his country with

and Julius Berger, where he was discovered by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

agent Marcelo Houseman who recommended him to Atta Aneke, being subsequently taken on trial by Norway's Lyn. He made his

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

debut on 16 September 2007 at the age of just 18, scoring in a 2–0 home win against

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. He scored six goals in 13 matches in his second year to help his team to the seventh position, and subsequently arose interest from other clubs in the country, with Brann reporting Lyn to the

Norwegian Football Federation The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the Norway national football team, men's and Norway ...

for unfairness in the negotiation process.

Udinese and Granada

On 30 July 2008, Ighalo signed for

in Italy, moving alongside teammate

Jo Inge Berget Jo Inge Berget (born 11 September 1990) is a Norwegian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. He has played professionally in his homeland, Italy, Wales, Scotland, Sweden and the Uni ...

and agreeing to a five-year contract. He appeared rarely in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

in his debut season, scoring against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

in a 6–2 home routing. Four of his five league appearances came as a late substitute. Ighalo was loaned to

in summer 2009, as part of the partnership agreement between Udinese and the Spaniards. He scored 17 times in his first year ( playoffs included) and five in

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...

, as both seasons ended in promotion; this was interspersed with a brief loan stint back in Italy, with

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

. Ighalo continued playing with Granada in the following years, still owned by the

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

club. He played his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

match on 27 August 2011, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–1 home loss to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

Watford

Ighalo joined

on a season-long loan deal from Udinese, on 29 July 2014. He made his debut for the English club in the first round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

away to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on 12 August, and scored his first goal in the

against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

on 30 September by tucking the ball home after his initial

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

was saved by David Button, in a 2–1 home win. On 24 October 2014, Watford terminated Ighalo's loan and re-signed him on a permanent deal the same day after Udinese released him from his contract. Exactly three months later, he scored four-second-half goals and was voted

Man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in a 7–2 home routing of

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, who led 0–2 at half time; he took his league tally to 14 on 10 February 2015, after netting a brace to help his team come from behind at Brentford to win it 2–1 – his second came through an injury time header. Ighalo scored in his

debut on 8 August 2015, replacing

José Manuel Jurado José Manuel Jurado Marín (born 29 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played for both major teams in Madrid during his career, Real and Atlético, albeit with no success for the former ...

16 minutes from time and putting the visitors ahead 2–1 in an eventual 2–2 draw away against Everton for the season opener. He netted twice in a 2–0 home win over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 31 October, reaching seven goals for the season and becoming the highest club scorer in the competition after just 11 matches. On 20 December, Ighalo scored in a Watford victory for the fourth consecutive time, netting a brace in a 3–0 win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. His five-goal haul earned him December's

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

, while his manager

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Getafe. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 ga ...

won the equivalent award. Ighalo broke a 599-minute personal scoring drought on 13 March 2016, with a goal in a 2–1 win at holders

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the quarter-finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, putting the Hornets into the last four for the first time in nine years. On 12 August he signed a new five-year contract but, the following season, he scored just one league goal and did not find the net in any of his last 15 games.

Changchun Yatai

On 31 January 2017, Ighalo joined

club

for a reported £20 million. He ranked second in the scoring charts in his second season at 21, but his team suffered relegation.

Shanghai Shenhua

Ighalo transferred to

on 14 February 2019. In March, he said he turned down a move to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

the previous month. In March 2020, he was offered a contract extension worth over £400,000 a week by Shenhua.

Loan to Manchester United

On 31 January 2020, Ighalo returned to the Premier League, joining

on loan until the end of the season. In doing so, he became the first Nigerian player, and the seventh African, to join the club. After the move was confirmed, Ighalo revealed that he had taken a pay cut to make the move happen, calling it a "dream" to join the club he has long supported. He opted to wear the number 25 shirt, previously worn by United's first and longest-serving African player,

Quinton Fortune Quinton Fortune (born 21 May 1977) is a South African professional football coach and former player, who played as both a midfielder and a defender. His career began in Europe and after stints with Tottenham Hotspur, Mallorca and Atlético M ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. His presence within the first team was initially blocked as a precautionary measure due to ongoing fears over the COVID-19 outbreak in China. After three substitute appearances, Ighalo made his full debut for United in their

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

round-of-32 second-leg match against

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

on 27 February. He scored his first United goal, which was also his maiden goal in a European competition, as the hosts won 5–0. A week later, he scored his first brace for the club as United beat

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

3–0 in the

. In United's final game before the suspension of football due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ighalo scored a half-volley after juggling the ball in a 5–0 win over

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional Football team, football club, from the Upper Austria, Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and pl ...

; it was voted United's goal of the month for March. With football suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and Ighalo's loan set to expire at the end of May, United announced that they had agreed to extend Ighalo's loan deal until 30 January 2021. On 26 January 2021, Ighalo posted a farewell message on social media, ahead of his imminent departure from United at the end of the month. United confirmed Ighalo's departure the following day.

Al Shabab

On 4 February 2021, Ighalo joined

club Al Shabab on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

International career

On 24 March 2015, after a series of strong performances for Watford, newly appointed

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

interim coach

Daniel Amokachi Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional footballer and a member of the dubious goals panel for the Premier League. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier Lea ...

selected Ighalo for the first time, and the latter stated, "I feel good because it is my dream to play for my country". He won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

two days later, starting in a 0–1 friendly home loss to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Ighalo was initially named as one of three overage players in Nigeria's squad for the 2016 Olympic tournament, but he eventually did not make the trip to Brazil. In June 2018, he was named in the 23-man squad for the upcoming edition of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

in Russia, making his first appearance in the competition by playing 73 minutes in the 0–2 group stage defeat against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

; in October, he revealed that his family had received death threats after he failed to score in the tournament. Ighalo scored seven goals in the

campaign, the most by any player, to help Nigeria qualify for the finals in Egypt later that year. He was included in

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Nigerian national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, whe ...

's squad, taking part in all the matches and finding the net against

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

in the group phase (1–0),

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

in the round of 16 (3–2 win),

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in the semi-finals (1–2 loss) and

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in the third-place playoff (1–0). At the end of the competition, he announced his retirement from the international scene. Ighalo was recalled to the Nigeria team for the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

but his club, Al Shabab, blocked him from taking part.

Personal life

Ighalo is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, who also often dedicates part of his wages for Nigerian charitable organisations to help impoverished children, schools and widows below the poverty line. He is a lifelong Manchester United supporter. Ighalo has three children, two sons and one daughter. On 22 June 2021, He was unveiled as an Ambassador of the National Principal's Cup in Abuja by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Watford *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Shanghai Shenhua *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh titl ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Al-Hilal *

: 2021–22 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

runner-up:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Nigeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

third place:

Individual *

: December 2015 *Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2019 *Africa Cup of Nations Golden Boot: 2019 * Saudi Professional League Player of the Month: April & May 2021 *

Team of the Year: 2021–22 *

Top Scorer: 2021–22

References

External links

* * *
Lyn official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ighalo, Odion 1989 births Living people Nigerian Christians Sportspeople from Lagos Sportspeople from Edo State Nigerian footballers Association football forwards Osun United F.C. players Bridge F.C. players Lyn Fotball players Udinese Calcio players Granada CF footballers A.C. Cesena players Watford F.C. players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Al Hilal SFC players Nigeria Professional Football League players Eliteserien players Serie A players Segunda División B players Segunda División players La Liga players English Football League players Premier League players Chinese Super League players Saudi Professional League players Nigeria under-20 international footballers Nigeria international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in China Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia