I took a pay cut and travelled 4,800 miles to become Manchester United cult hero

When Marcus Rashford sustained a stress fracture to his back in January 2020, he was expected to be sidelined for two months. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said it was a 'bad injury'.

Manchester United sprang into life in the winter transfer window but their options were limited. And nobody expected them to sign Odion Ighalo from Shanghai Shenhua. Ighalo was 30, plying his trade in China, and had played for Watford during his previous stint in England. So the news United were looking to sign him shocked supporters.

The striker signed on a six-month loan on the last day of the January transfer window. Ighalo was United's first deadline-day acquisition since Anthony Martial in the summer of 2015 and his move from China had the hallmarks of a classic last minute panic deal.

ALSO READ: The numbers behind United's awful set-piece record

ALSO READ: I coached the rising United star who impressed Rooney

United moved for Ighalo after ending interest in Joshua King and Ighalo's agent spoke with former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward late in the transfer window about a loan.

"It's been hectic," Atta Aneke, Ighalo's agent at the time, said when the loan deal was made official. "I talked to Manchester United's top boss [Ed Woodward] for a few days in advance. It was quiet on Thursday and then I got the impression that nothing would happen.

"Suddenly, in the middle of the day on Friday, things started to move. It was then at 11 o'clock in the evening in Shanghai. It was hectic phone business. Everyone had to stay awake until five or six in the morning in Shanghai. Odionn has been a United supporter since childhood.

"It's incredibly big. When he left for China, he did not expect to be brought to United as a 30-year-old. He's an amazing