In what was a truly hectic deadline day at Old Trafford, Manchester United managed to get their loan deal for Odion Ighalo over the line at the last minute.
The Nigerian may not be the most high-profile name United could have gone for in the January transfer window, particularly when you think about how they were linked with a swoop for Erling Braut Haaland. But nevertheless, they did manage to bring a forward in through the door.
However, it may not have been Ighalo who arrived at Old Trafford. Reports had claimed the Red Devils were targeting a move for former player Josh King, and that they had seen a £20m bid rejected by Bournemouth.
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And now, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, the 28-year-old was expecting another offer from United to come in on deadline day, but that failed to materialise, with the Red Devils’ supposed preference always being a loan – a situation that it is understood to have left him angry and disappointed.
After hearing about the update on their failed swoop for the Cherries forward, United fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the matter.
Some fans seemed to insist Ighalo is the better player out of the two, and implied that they are happy with the way things panned out.
A couple of fans urged him to “pipe down” and that if he was any good, he still wouldn’t be playing for Bournemouth.
One fan meanwhile raised an interesting point about how King should redirect his anger towards the Cherries for “playing hardball”.
In the end, the Red Devils got what they desperately needed: a centre-forward. Whilst King may have been someone they were keeping an eye on, United arguably made the right call in not continuing their interest in the Bournemouth forward.
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A loan swoop for Ighalo means they can now concentrate on targets perhaps far higher up on the shortlist than King in the summer, and go one for their number one priority, rather than simply settling for someone.
So whilst King may feel aggrieved at how United have conducted their business, unfortunately for him, the Red Devils made the ruthlessly right call.
Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hailed this ace who had 110 touches as a “top player”.