The unlikely player to benefit most from Odion Ighalo's Manchester United arrival
How you start a transfer window with Erling Haaland as your top transfer target and end it with Odion Ighalo requires serious explaining, but if you look beyond the internet pasting Manchester United have suffered, and the broader questions (again) about their recruitment policy, it may, bizarrely, prove the difference in the race for the top four.
At the start of the year you'd have been hard pressed to find anyone that would have thought that. Odion Ighalo was in China, after all, winding down his career with Shanghai Shenhua at the age of 30. Suddenly, he finds himself with a golden opportunity at the club he supported as a boy. Chelsea, Tottenham and United all ended January desperate for a new striker and only one managed it. We are even led to believe Ighalo turned down Tottenham to join United. The route United took to sign the former Watford striker is certainly laughable, but it could still end up giving them the edge heading into the business stage of the campaign.
OIe Gunnar Solskjaer has already confirmed Ighalo will be in United's squad for Monday's trip to Stamford Bridge to face rivals Chelsea despite the fact the former Nigeria international still hasn't trained with his new team-mates, nearly two weeks after joining. Instead of going to Spain for United's winter break, Ighalo remained in Manchester owing to fears he wouldn't be allowed back in the country having only recently left China.
You just can't make this stuff up for United, yet at the same time it is not at all surprising given the way has drifted under the current managment. During this entire process, while United frantically look for a striker to save their season, their old one, Romelu Lukaku continued to excel for Inter. Lukaku proclaimed himself the king of Milan after netting in Inter's 4-2 win in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday. It was his 17th league goal of the season in his first for Inter, surpassing his best ever return in an individual campaign for United with 15 games still remaining. Lukaku is the top WhoScored rated new signing in Europe's top five leagues this season (7.53) and has scored more league goals in 2020 (5) than United have managed as a team (4).
The timing couldn't be worse for Solskjaer, who remains under pressure in the media even if Ed Woodward insists his job is safe. Solskjaer was ultimately correct to sell Lukaku in the summer, as he wanted to leave, but failing to replace the Belgium international has unsurprisingly turned out to be a huge error. Mason Greenwood has chipped in with 10 goals in all competitions and Marcus Rashford is enjoying his best ever campaign in front of goal (19 goals) but the former is only 18 and the latter is out until April.
Martial, meanwhile, is still... Martial. A return of eight league goals is hardly diabolical but seems about right for any average Premier League forward. That, however, simply isn't good enough from a United centre-forward. The 24-year-old has found the going particularly tough since Rashford's injury. United are currently on their worst barren run in the Premier League since October 2016 when they also went three games without a goal. They have never gone four games without scoring in the Premier League era.
Solskjaer has put Martial's recent struggles down to the fact he is tired, running more in games than ever before. Having another forward in the squad would have allowed Solskjaer to manage Martial's workload and keep him performing at a high standard. Instead, the France international has dipped, more so without Rashford by his side.
Even from a dataset of just three league games this season, it's clear Martial is not the same player when Rashford is not on the pitch. And in some ways the true is same of Rashford when Martial isn't there. When both start, opposition defenders have more to think about. Focusing on Rashford will give Martial more room and opportunities and vice versa. With Rashford absent, however, Martial is easy to mark out of the game.
Shots per game (2 from 2.7), successful dribbles per game (0.6 from 1.8), touches per game (35 from 40) and touches in the opposition box per game (4.3 from 6) are all down for Martial in league matches this season when Rashford has not featured compared to when both have played together. Capable of runs in behind, Martial and Rashford both primarily like to be direct with the ball in at their feet. They are both similar in that regard, whereas Ighalo offers something completely different. He's even said it himself. Expect him to be rough and ready to lead the line for United and he's even been sharpening his tools with Great Britain's taekwondo stars while his new team-mates are in sunny Marbella.
On paper, Ighalo's arrival will have a direct consequence on where Martial fits into the team at United. However, it is Martial that will arguably benefit the most of all United players from Ighalo's presence. Capable of keeping defenders occupied, Ighalo should in theory open up space for Martial to work his magic. Ighalo isn't simply a hold up merchant, either. He has reached double figures in five of his last six league campaigns and was the top scorer at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with five goals in seven appearances.
