31 CAF, NFF, Man Utd, Watford Celebrate Ighalo at
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), joined Manchester United in wishing Odion Ighalo happy 31st birthday yesterday.
The former Super Eagles forward whose loan spell at United has been extended till January 31, 2021 by his parent Chinese club, Shanghai Shenhua, was born on June 16, 1989 in Lagos but raised in Edo State.
The NFF yesterday sent goodwill messages through its Twitter handle to the Manchester United forward.
“Happy birthday to AFCON 2019 top scorer, @ighalojude. Keep soaring, keep shining, and have a good one,” the NFF wrote on its social media handle.
CAF also sent congratulatory messages through its official website.
Manchester United celebrated their prized on-loan player on its official website, posting clips of all the matches has played for the Red Devils there.
Ighalo’s former club in the English topflight before relocating to Far East, Watford celebrated their former striker with goodwill messages also. They also posted video clips of some of the matches he played for the Hornets.
The birthday boy started his professional football career with Prime FC of Osogbo.
He also played for Julius
Berger before leaving Nigeria to continue his development in Europe, joining Norwegian side Lyn Oslo in 2007.
From Norway, Ighalo crossed over to Italyto team up with Udinesewhere he spent six years, including loan spells with Granada and Cesena.
The striker signed for Watford, initially on loan before the deal was made permanent in 2014, and made a significant contribution during his time with the club.
Ighalo scored 36 league goals in 90 appearances for the Vicarage Road Stadium outfit and in December 2015, he was named Premier League Player of the Month following his impressive performances in front of goal.
He left the Hornets in 2017 for Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai and delivered fine displays during his one-year stay, scoring 10 goals in 17 league matches.
Ighalo however switched to rivals Shanghai Shenhua after turning down a chance to join Spanish giants Barcelonaand on January transfer deadline day sealed a shock loan move to Manchester United.
Since his arrival at the Old Trafford, the former Nigeria international has become the toast of the fans following his eye-catching showings in both the Premier League and the UEFA Europa competition where he scored a goal in the last game played by United before the lockdown due to coved-19.
The forward has scored four goals and provided one assist in only eight games across all competitions for United.
Before pulling curtains on his international career with Nigeria, Ighalo scored 16 goals in 35 appearances for the Super Eagles.
He retired shortly after helping Nigeria to win the bronze of AFCON 2019 in Egypt where he emerged as the tournament’s top scorer.