It is hard to believe, but Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has revealed that he turned down a January move to join La Liga champions, Barcelona.
According to Ighalo, the offer came after he finished the 2018 season as the Chinese Super League’s second-top scorer with 21 goals for Changchun Yatai.
The fort Watford star said had he signed, it would have been a loan move.
Ighalo said rejecting the Catalan giants was an ‘easy decision’ because he had no intention of going to the Nou Camp to warm the Barca bench.
He explained: ‘My agent spoke to me about a loan interest from Barcelona. The club wanted a striker with La Liga experience and someone who understands Spanish football.
‘It was meant to be a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker. It was nice to hear that Barcelona were interested and any footballer would be more than happy to take it.
‘With due respect I had just finished as the second top scorer in China with 21 goals, I deserve better and didn’t want to be a short-term player somewhere.
‘We rejected it, it was an easy decision to make and I chose to stay in China by joining Shanghai Shenhua on a longer contract.’
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