Odion Ighalo will have to take a £200,000-a-week pay cut if he wants to turn his loan move at Manchester United into a permanent switch.
Before his January move to Old Trafford in January, the Nigerian forward was earning £300,000-a-week at Shanghai Shenhua.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen on keeping Ighalo but the striker would have to sacrifice two-thirds of his wages in China to remain to England.
In a related development, Ighalo has ruled out the possibility of reversing his decision to retire from the Super Eagles for now, insisting that the young players in the team are doing well.
The Manchester United striker called time on his international career in July 2019, few days after helping the Super Eagles win a bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ighalo revealed that Lille’s Victor Osimhen, who inherited his number nine jersey, and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze are good and exciting players in the Super Eagles squad.
“For now I am done with the Super Eagles. However, in life you can never say never. I am in contact with the coach constantly, four days ago he sent me a message.
“I still message him to wish the team good luck before they play a game.
“We have young, very good players in the team, the likes of Osimhen coming up scoring goals, Chukwueze – good exciting players.
“I just want them to keep doing the job because they are doing so well for Super Eagles. I want to concentrate on club football for now,” Ighalo said.
He added: “The young players coming up are doing very well. I want the fans and country to believe in them, give them the mantle to take up the responsibility to do well.
“I know the coach said the same thing, he wants me to be back because I can nurture the young ones, teach them one or two things, which like I said you never can say never.
“For now they are doing well so I just want the team to keep doing well, I am watching them from afar, supporting them, then we’ll see what the future holds.”
Ighalo concluded by saying that he still has some love for the Super Eagles but wants to focus on his club career.
“Of course, Super Eagles is my team, it’s my country and I’ve played there, I know how the setting is there.
“The coach gave me opportunity even when the whole world was against me and I came back to play for him and we’ve been talking, we have a good relationship even with the players there. We never had any problems.
“It will be a great opportunity to come back if the opportunity arises. For now, I want to concentrate on my club football then we’ll see what happens in future.”
