Rio Ferdinand has questioned Manchester United’s deadline day signing of ex-Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, but acknowledge the striker’s pedigree will bring much needed experience to the Red Devils, Sports Extra reports.
Ighalo, who has spent the last three years playing in China, moves to Old Trafford on a short-term contract until the end of the season after United reached an agreement with Shanghai Shenhua on deadline Day.
Ferdinand expressed his doubts in an interview with Sports Extra at the Guinness Night Football Pan African extravaganza ceremony in Lagos.
According to him, Ighalo is a good player but the difference in class between the Chinese Super League and the Premier League might be a problem for the 30-year-old striker.
“I just think the difficulty obviously is that he is coming from a league that is trying to become a big-league and the quality is not the same as the Premier League,” Ferdinand told Sports Extra.
“So is he going to be as fit as we need him to be? Is he going to hit the ground running? The difference in standard, is it going to be easy for him to adjust?.
“He hasn’t played in the Premier League for two years now but his record in English football. I think it is just over one goal in two games.
“What we need in Manchester United is experience. If you look up front, we have Greenwood (18), Daniel James, played a handful of games, and Martial. So, there is no experience there. You need somebody with some form of experience.
“He (Ighalo) has that, he is international, and he has played and scored goals for Nigeria. He has good experience in that sense. But there is still a lot of questions to be asked and time will tell.”
Ighalo could make his debut for Manchester United against Chelsea in their next Premier League fixture.
Source:AFP
