Odion Ighalo Pleads With Shanghai Shenhua to Extend Manchester United Loan

Odion Ighalo has personally asked parent club Shanghai Shenhua to extend his loan with Manchester United until the end of the season.

The Nigerian's stay at Old Trafford is set to come to an end in the coming days as Shanghai have insisted that they want Ighalo back for the start of the Chinese Super League campaign in June, telling United to sign the striker permanently or forget about him.

United are not interested in a permanent deal, which could cost close to £20m, and they only want to keep him around for the rest of the current season. According to the Manchester Evening News, that feeling is shared by Ighalo, who has asked Shenhua to grant him an extension to remain in Manchester.

The player's camp are now thought to be optimistic about their chances of remaining with United, with talks between the two clubs now described as 'much more positive'.

Ighalo sees the opportunity to finish a season with United as a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and with the Red Devils still in pursuit of the top four, the FA Cup and the Europa League title, he wants to be able to help his favourite club achieve their goals.

United's chances of keeping Ighalo were given a slight boost recently as a report emerged suggesting any CSL players who were currently overseas would not be permitted to return to China until October as the country looks to eradicate the threat of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

If that is true, then you'd assume that Shenhua would let Ighalo remain with United, even if it's just because the Red Devils are paying a chunk of his wages.

United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently confessed that talks were ongoing but an agreement is yet to be reached as Shenhua are keen to have Ighalo back and raring to go in time for the new CSL season.

With Marcus Rashford set to be ready to return after recovering from his back injury, losing Ighalo wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for United, but his departure would again leave them without any real depth in attack.

United still have nine Premier League games to play on top of their runs in the two cup competitions, so having the option to call on Ighalo and rotate the squad would go a long way to helping United succeed this year.

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