On account of his goal-scoring form, the player, who plies his trade with English side, Watford FC, has attracted top European Clubs, with La Liga giant, Atletico Madrid, planning to sign him for 12 million pounds, in next summer transfer window.
Currently one of the top scorers in Europe, Odion became a hero in England, when his 20 goals helped Watford to gain promotion to EPL last season, after an eight-year wait.
Odion like almost every other Nigerian football stars, started on the street. He was born in Ajegunle, and was exposed to football at a very young age. His mum, according to him, sold pure water to support his dream of becoming a football star.
In celebration of this amazing football star, we bring you 14 facts about how he rose to prominence…
- Ighalo started his football career with Prime F.C. and Julius Berger FC, where he was discovered by FIFA agent, Marcelo Houseman, who recommended him to Atta Aneke, and he was subsequently taken on trial by Norway’s Lyn Football.
- He made his Tippeligaen (Norwegian professional league) debut on September 16, 2007, at the age of just 18, scoring in a 2–0 home win against Viking FK.
- He netted six goals in 13 games in his second year to help his team to the seventh position, and subsequently arose interest from other clubs in the country, with SK Brann reporting Lyn to the Football Association of Norway for unfairness in the negotiation process.
- On July 30, 2008, Ighalo signed for Udinese Calcio in Italy, moving alongside teammate Jo Inge Berget and agreeing to a five-year contract.
- He appeared rarely in Serie A in his debut season, scoring against Cagliari Calcio in a 6–2 home routing- four of his five league appearances came as a late substitute.
- Ighalo was loaned to Granada CF in the 2009 summer, as part of the partnership agreement between Udinese and the Spaniards.
- He scored 17 times in his first year (playoffs included) and five in the second, as both seasons ended in promotion; this was interspersed with a brief loan stint back in Italy with A.C. Cesena.
- Ighalo continued playing with Granada in the following years, still owned by the Udinese side. He played his first La Liga match on August 27, 2011, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–1 home loss to Real Betis.
- Ighalo joined Watford on a season-long loan deal from Udinese, on 29 July 2014. He made his debut for the English side in the first round of the Football League Cup at Stevenage on August 12, and scored his first goal against Brentford on September 30 by tucking the ball home after his initial penalty was saved by David Button.
- On 24 October 2014 Watford terminated Ighalo’s loan, and re-signed him on a permanent deal the same day after Udinese released him from his contract.
- Exactly three months later, he scored four second half goals and was voted Man of the match in a 7–2 home routing of Blackpool, who lead 0–2 at half time; he took his league tally to 14 on February 10, 2015, after netting a brace to help his team come from behind at Brentford to win it 2–1 – his second came through an injury time header.
- On March 24, 2015, after a series of solid performances for Watford, newly appointed Nigeria coach then, Daniel Amokachi selected Ighalo for the first time, and the latter stated: ‘I feel good because it is my dream to play for my country.’
- He gained his first cap two days later, starting in a 0–1 friendly home loss to Uganda.
- At present, he’s one of the leading scorers in EPL having found the back of the net 14 times.