Manchester United News: Odion Ighalo tipped to have Eric Cantona-esque impact at Old Trafford by former Red Devils star

Odion Ighalo could have an impact akin to Eric Cantona at Old Trafford, former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich claimed in an interview to Sky Sports. The Nigerian joined the Red Devils on a loan deal on deadline day and has divided opinion on the effectiveness of the deal. Injury to Marcus Rashford had prompted United to seal a hurried move for the striker before the winter transfer window closed and not everyone was impressed with United’s business.

However, Bosnich believes that the signing was situation based and could yet turn out to be a smart move by the Red Devils. Ighalo is not new to the Premier League, having played for Watford for 2 and a half seasons before making the move to China. The Nigerian scored 39 goals from 99 appearances for the Hornets and Bosnich believes that he could prove his doubters wrong in the United shirt as well.

Ighalo has nothing to lose

The former United goalkeeper stated that Rashford’s injury justified United’s added urgency for securing a striker before the end of the window, and referred to Ighalo’s arrival as an ‘emergency signing’

"This was an emergency signing. I can understand a lot of people taking about a scatter gun approach, well it had to be with Marcus Rashford being out."

Despite the current league position of the Red Devils, who are 7th in the league after 25 games, Bosnich remains hopeful of a top 4 finish. He believes that United could close the 6-point gap from the champions league places.

"I think they can [close the gap], there's no doubt about that. Six points at this stage of the season for me is still nothing. The top four is still possible for Manchester United, they had to go and get somebody."

And this is where he feels that Ighalo could yet turn out to be a secret weapon for United because he will be free from the burden of expectations. Bosnich even went on to say that the Nigerian could have an impact quite similar to Eric Cantona.

"The boy that's come in (Ighalo) has got nothing to lose, nobody expects anything unbelievable from him but they definitely needed somebody in that position."

"You never know. A long, long time ago Manchester United signed a certain Frenchman (Eric Cantona) who no one really expected much from and he ended up propelling them to one of their most successful seasons of all time."

Cantona joined United in November1992 and brought his unique style and substance to Old Trafford. The Frenchman is heralded as one of the architects of United’s rise under Sir Alex Ferguson and is still fondly referred to as "King Eric" by the United faithful.