WITH his strike against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, Super Eagles and Watford forward Odion Ighalo has brought his goal total for 2015 to 30, more than any other player in England.Of those goals, 14 have come in his 20 starts for the Hornets this season while the 16 others came as part of the club’s promotion campaign from the Championship last term.The Nigerian striker’s goal haul has come as something of a surprise for just about every party involved. At no point in his time spent with prior clubs — first in Norway, then in Italy, and twice in Spain — did Ighalo hint he was capable of such tremendous production. In fact, his scoring record with Watford alone is more than the rest of his career combined.
Prior to his move to the newly promoted side, Ighalo was part of the continent-spanning football project owned and overseen by the Italian Pozzo family. Along with owning the English club, they also control Granada in Spain and Udinese in Italy.
An extensive scouting network allows the family to pick from a wide pool of players whom they shift around their various clubs, hoping to eventually find the right fit. Ighalo is far from the first such player to feature for all three sides, though he is the first to have scored for each of them.
Udinese might look on at Ighalo’s accomplishments at Watford with some amount of envy, though they perhaps only have themselves to blame for not reaping similar rewards from the Nigerian.
During his time with the club after his €2 million move from Norwegian club Lyn in 2008, Ighalo only earned five appearances with the Zebrette before moving to Granada.
In fairness to the Zebrette, Ighalo also struggled to make an impact even with the regular chances afforded to him over three seasons with Granada. In 103 appearances in all competitions, he scored 21 goals and made six assists.
Given how far up the Premier League table Ighalo’s goals have in part propelled Watford, it seems unlikely that he will be making a move back to Italy or Spain anytime soon. His success might make Udinese think twice before letting a player go who hasn’t been given a chance to prove himself though.
Culled from gazzetta.it
