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Sad! Ighalo’s Man United’s Journey Ends
Odion Ighalo’s dream of making his stay with Manchester United may not materialize after all, according to reports from England.
Ighalo went on a short loan stint in January transfer window with Manchester United from the Chinese Super League side, Shanghai Shenhua, and following his impressive performance at Old Trafford, Coach Ole Gunnar Solksjaer have been trying to make his stay permanent.
In March, he said, “Odion has done really well – we need those qualities for next season so let’s see.”
Shanghai Shenhua earlier quoted a £20 million selling price to Manchester United, but the latest development indicates that the Chinese team are no longer keen on a deal.
Ighalo’s loan deal will end on May 31, but the English Premier League has been extended beyond that date by the coronavirus pandemic that forced the suspension of the competition.
There are still nine Premier League games ahead for Manchester United, as well as matches in the Europa League and the FA Cup.
With the Chinese Super League season slated to begin late June or early July, Shanghai Shenhua have asked Ighalo to return to base.
Reports say Manchester United, still keen on keeping Ighalo, tried to negotiate an extension to the loan deal until the end of the season, but the Chinese club turned down the request.
Manchester United was said to be reluctant to sign the 30-year-old Ighalo for the quoted amount especially as the injured Marcos Rashford is back in the fold.
Many people associated with the Red Devils initially had doubts about Ighalo’s ability to deliver for the club, but the former Watford striker soon dispelled such doubts.
Former Red Devils’ striker, Dimitar Berbatov describes Ighalo as the striking ‘bully’ that Manchester United have been crying out for long.
Berbatov admits to being wrong when it comes to the 30-year-old’s value, with it looking as though the Red Devils have pulled off a shrewd piece of business.
He told Betfair in February, “I’m really happy to see that Odion Ighalo is settling in well and he deserves it with the way he is playing, how he links the plays and the goals he is scoring.
“All the team are happy when he scores which shows he is fully integrated, and I like the way he looks for the ball and bullies the defenders.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know too much about him before he joined, obviously I knew about his record in the Premier League, but I questioned if he was the right man and if he would get into the team, but so far he is doing well and proving me wrong.”
While rejecting Manchester United’s loan extension offer, Shanghai Shenhua will make Ighalo Africa’s highest paid footballer ever with a £400,000 per week contract extension until 2024.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
