Manchester United completed one of the shock signings of the January transfer window by bringing Odion Ighalo to Old Trafford on deadline day.
The Nigeria former Watford striker joined the Red Devils on loan in the final minutes of the month as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer raided the market for a new centre-forward.
Marcus Rashford suffered an injury which will keep the England forward sidelined until April at the earliest, and Solskjaer clearly does not trust Anthony Martial or Mason Greenwood enough to lead the line for United.
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So the club made it a priority to bring a striker to Old Trafford, but were dealt a blow when top target Erling Haaland decided to join Borussia Dortmund rather than the Red Devils.
United are ruing their failure to bring in the Norway ace more and more with each passing week, as he’s already scored SEVEN times for BVB in only three matches – and just ONE start!
They were then linked with the likes of Ligue 1 forwards Edinson Cavani and Moussa Dembele, but less highly thought of players – Islam Slimani, Christian Benteke, Olivier Giroud – were also reportedly on United’s radar.
And in the end they brought Ighalo back to the Premier League – with many ridiculing the Red Devils for signing a striker who has been playing in China and who scored just one Premier League goal in 18 appearances during his final season at Watford.
Whether or not Ighalo is a success remains to be seen – talkSPORT was told last weekend Solskjaer ‘could be sacked’ over the signing – and it’s clear Rashford’s injury threw a spanner in the works for Man United.
They were left with no real attacking depth when the England ace was confirmed out – but Simon Jordan says the injury to Rashford is not the root of all United’s problems.
In fact, the former Crystal Palace owner believes United screwed themselves last summer, when Romelu Lukaku was sold to Inter and no replacement was brought in.
“You take out Lukaku and – whether he was happy or not at the end of his tenure – you’ve got to replace him,” said Jordan on talkSPORT‘s Final Word.
“They didn’t replace and now they’ve got into a ridiculous situation where somebody who at the beginning of the season was never thought to be an out-and-out goalscorer in Rashford, has proven most people wrong.
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“But he’s now injured and you didn’t give him any support.
“He defied conventional wisdom by actually stepping up and scoring goals, but he’s now injured and you’re in the transfer market in January as the world’s biggest football club – not in performance terms right now but in reputation and brand association.
“And you’re operating in Aldi rather than Marks & Spencer in terms of shopping.”
Listen to Simon Jordan on talkSPORT, above…
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