SHANGHAI SURPRISE Ighalo recalls the dramatic night when his United dream came true

ODION IGHALO has revealed he was sleepless in Shanghai as he frantically thrashed out his dream move to Manchester United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s desperate search for a striker was finally completed when United secured an 11th-hour deadline day deal with Shanghai Shenhua for Ighalo on loan until the summer.

The former Watford hitman, 30, said as soon as he heard United had come calling he was determined to join them.

“It was dramatic,” said the Nigerian. “My agent called me the day before and said, ‘Man United’.A few other clubs had shown interest but I said, ‘Please, just pick United, if it’s going to be possible’.

“At 11pm in Shanghai my agent called to say United wanted to do the deal, so I started looking for a translator to go to the directors’ room and hit his door saying, ‘My agent wants to speak to you, United are coming for me, you have to make this happen’.

“They started talking and I didn’t sleep that night because the transfer window was going to close at 7am Shanghai time.

“So from 11pm there was paperwork, negotiating for the loan deal. Other teams are calling them, wanting me, but I told my agent this is what I want.

“He said, ‘You’re going to take a pay cut’. I said, ‘I don’t care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don’t care how much the pay cut is. My agent started putting it in order and, at 5am, we finished, everything’s done. I was excited. I called my mum and she was happy, crying.”

Growing up in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, Ighalo was a United fan and revealed how he would watch matches with as many as 50 people crammed into a room, dreaming of following in the footsteps of Andy Cole, below, and Dwight Yorke.

The opportunity to become the first Nigerian player to pull on the red jersey means everything to him. “I’m proud,” he said. “When we were young back in Nigeria we used to watch the Premier League on TV a lot, when the likes of Andy Cole played.

“People support United a lot in Nigeria, so I developed that love because all of my siblings are United fans. I never thought this was going to happen – dreams do come true.

“Even the street I grew up on, they’re now partying, celebrating me signing for United. They sent me the video, I was just laughing and happy, because many of them are supporting Man United and some of them are supporting some other teams in the Premier League.

“But they said, because of me, they are moving to United. I’m happy they’re rooting for United from now on.”

United desperately needed a striker to plug the gap left by Marcus Rashford’s long-term back injury.