Odion Ighalo reveals he took a pay cut to play for Manchester United

New Manchester United signing Odion Ighalo has revealed that he took a pay cut to join the Premier League giants.

Ighalo was a January transfer deadline day signing for Manchester United who got the striker on loan from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.

Speaking in his first interview since the move the Nigerian revealed that he was so excited to join Manchester United that he took a pay cut to make the deal happen.

"I told my agent that 'this is what I want. I want to come here'," Ighalo said in his interview with Manchester United’s website.

"He said: 'You're going to get a pay-cut to go to United'.

Odion Ighalo will earn a third of what he was getting at Shanghai Shenhua (Instagram/Odion Ighalo)

Instagram

"I said: 'I don't care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don't care how much is the pay-cut, I know that, make it happen'."

Ighalo will earn £100,000 at Manchester United, a third of the £300,000 he was earning at Shanghai Shenhua.

Ighalo also revealed that he could not sleep all through the night while the negotiation was ongoing for the move.

“At 11pm in Shanghai, my agent called me [to say] that United want to do the deal, so I woke up that night and started looking for a translator to go to the directors' room and hit his door; 'My agent wants to speak to you, United are coming for me, you have to make this happen', ” Ighalo said.

Ighalo’s excitement on the move comes from the fact that he has been a Manchester United fan since he was a child.