It is now known that for Odion Ighalo to join Manchester United in January, the Nigerian was gracious enough to agree to a pay cut. From the Chinese Super League, the striker accepted a wage that is 40 percent less from his £300,000 weekly paycheck, which appeared to indicate Ighalo couldn't pass up on the opportunity to be with the Red Devils.
It's a good thing, however, that Ighalo's loan deal with United gives him access to incentives, presumably to make up for the lower salary he signed up for. Also, the possibility of bonus pays serves as motivation for the Nigerian, whose stay at Old Trafford will only last for six months.
The Sun reported that Ighalo was promised £9,000 for each United win that he is part of the squad. So far, he has appeared in eight games with the club and since he was hired the team has won 11 straight games. That should indicate a sizeable extra pay so far for the hardworking goalscorer.
Ighalo is also allowed to collect £8,000 for each time he cleared the net and the striker has already made four goals, which translate to a bonus of £32,000. It can be assumed that if the games were not suspended, due to the spreading COVID-19 infection, Ighalo could be counting more money.
And when his efforts so far for the Red Devils led to a Top 4 finish in the Premier League, United will get a Champions League spot next season. For Ighalo, that would result in more windfall.
"He earns his basic pay but also gets bits added on top of that to keep him ticking over. That includes a win and draw bonus, goals and things like winning trophies and getting into the Champions League," the report quoted a United insider as saying.
The figures mentioned might point to the conclusion that the loan signing is relatively well-paid but as noted by Mirror, Ighalo takes home a handsome payslip while playing in Shanghai. For his return to the Premier League, Ighalo now gets just a little over what the Chinese pay.
In a recent report, suggestions were made that United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will do wise to make the Nigerian a permanent signing and the Norwegian appeared to welcome the idea of having Ighalo on the roster for a longer time.
To make things easier for Solskjaer, Ighalo offered to make an adjustment on his fee by up to £6 million of discount. His willingness to make accommodations is a testament of his love for United, a club that Ighalo has been following since childhood.
Ighalo declared: "It still feels like a dream sometimes. But I don't want to get carried away with too much emotion so that I am able to concentrate on training well and playing well. I know I am playing for the biggest club in the world."
