Ighalo reveals Watford turned down approaches from Man Utd and Chelsea, N8b offer from Palace

Odion Ighalo has revealed that Watford turned down approaches from Manchester United and Chelsea during his first season in the Premier League.

The former Nigeria international made a splash in his first season in the English top-flight, netting sixteen times but one of the goals - his strike versus Chelsea - was taken away by the Dubious Goals Panel.

Watford chiefs refused to do a deal with both Manchester United and Chelsea because they didn't want to lose an important player at the midway point of the season.

Ighalo admitted that he was forced to leave the Hornets in January 2017 because he did not have a good relationship with Italian manager Walter Mazzarri.

"I scored 16 goals. Teams wanted to buy me, Manchester United came for me then, Chelsea came for me then but Watford refused because it was the middle of the season, they said they were not going to sell me till the season finishes," Ighalo said to Elegbete TV Sports.

"I did so well in the Premier League the first season then the second season in the Premier League they brought in Walter Mazzarri, Italian coach.

"He started having problems with so many players, with Deeney, with me, so I was not playing much, so I told my agent I have to leave if I'm not playing".

Ighalo could have ended up at Crystal Palace prior to his switch to Changchun Yatai but the Eagles' sixteen million pounds (approximately N8 billion) bid fell short of Watford's valuation.

The 2019 AFCON top scorer continued : "I know Crystal Palace and one other team came for me then, Crystal Palace was bidding £16m to buy me, they turned it down because they had teams from China coming.

"Changchun Yatai came with £20m and Watford was supposed to get £10m a year before which I turned down but playing in the Premier League, scoring goals, they now got £20m then I went to China.

"I didn't want to leave the Premier League but that was the only team that can pay my transfer fee, all the other teams were turned down".

Ighalo now plies his trade for Saudi Arabian team Al-Shabab Riyadh, whom he joined in the winter transfer market after a one-year loan stint at Manchester United.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel