Article 43 — Thank You Shanghai!
Manchester United announced on the 1st June 2020 that they have reached an agreement with Odion Ighalo’s parent club, Shanghai Shenhua to extend his loan until the 31st January 2021.
It was a very generous extension by the Chinese club after considering the wishes of the player, living his childhood dream and United. United really needed this extension because I can’t see Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial as our lone strikers. They both had their chances and neither really impressed me in that role.
Rashford and Martial did well when Rashford was playing off the left-wing closer to Martial. I feel they both can work together in tandem as a strike pairing but not as solo strikers. Ighalo was the only proper out-and-out striker we have and he has done well thus far. He will surely be needed for the remaining matches no matter how many matches there are to be played until the end of the season.
In the roster of strikers, there is one striker that I feel is the most natural finisher we have presently in the club, the very promising and bright, Mason Greenwood. With time, I feel he can carry the role as a lone striker provided that role is still in vogue at that time. There are glimpses of Robin van Persie in his play. If he keeps improving, there is a very bright future that awaits him.
There are rumours linking us to Borussia Dortmund’s young Englishman, Jadon Sancho. Knowing the incompetence of our transfer strategy and decision-makers namely our CEO Ed Woodward, I will not put my hopes up on signing Sancho or anyone for that matter. I will only take it seriously when I see an official announcement and the player actually signs on the dotted line. We need at least 4–5 more high-quality signings to bridge the gap with Liverpool and Manchester City.
Liverpool will surely make some signings in the upcoming transfer window and City will make more than a few signings after they were left in the wake this season in the league. City has been implicated for impeaching the UEFA Financial Fair Play rules and if that is upheld, it’s tough to see them strengthening by much despite all their wealth.
What I am trying to get at is that everyone above and around us will be strengthening in the upcoming transfer window and we cannot be happy with just 1–2 signings. This is not the glorious United team of the old that was set and just needed some tweaking every season. This team has been in eternal transition. Our most recent signings have been good but they could all have been addressed in one transfer window. The longer we pussyfoot and delay, the longer it will take us to return to the very top and staying there. At this rate, I will not be surprised if it took us three decades to get there.
The challenge now is to make sure there isn’t a long-suffering period before we reach the top of English and European football again. I hope at least in my lifetime, I can see United be as successful as we were.
