Vicarage Road has seen the very best of striker Odion Ighalo since he signed from Udinese , but the problem is that the more the striker improves the more the hopes of seeing him play in a Watford shirt next season becomes faint.


Ighalo has been a sensation in the EPL, this season and has thus become an instant fans favourite in his short spell at the club. While the EPL viewers are shocked by the form of the striker, the same cannot be said of the Watford fans as he has displayed time and time again just what he is all about. Ighalo became a standout player for the club when he scored four second half goals in a 7-2 routing of Blackpool who led 0-2 at half time in his debut season . That was just the tip of the iceberg as he would go on and score 20 Championship league goals in 35 games averaging 0.9 goals in every 90 minutes with three assists, creating 38 further chances. With this goals , Watford were promoted from the Championship after a late season push up the table displacing the likes of Middlesbrough and Derby County.

The story of the Nigerian forward is more of a wanderer who has found a comfortable and happy home. Ighalo was loaned trice in two different leagues before he came to Watford on loan ( Granada and Cesena - Spain and Italy). At 26, he might not yet be in his peak but is just peaking at the right time . With 14 league goals already this season in 29 games (2477 minutes ), he us Watford's goal king and is just three short of of the EPL's highest goalscorers (Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy -17).

It should be noted that while Vardy and Harry Kane play with better attacking players (Okazaki, Mahrez, Ericsson and Chadli) , Ighalo has only his strike partner and club captain Troy Deeney to rely on . The likes of Abdi, Ike Anyachi, Valon Behrami and Ben Watson are not players of high quality that the likes of Leicester City and Spurs boast of .

Also this season, Ighalo has created 34 chances which were not converted by teammates, a shot accuracy of 58% and an average pass accuracy of 75%. His success isn't only limited to the EPL alone as he had also scored twice in four games in the FA Cup this season (one of the goals being the opener against Arsenal at the Emirates which Watford went on to win 1-2 to advance to the semi- final in Wembly). Ighalo has scored 13 of his all competition goals inside the penalty box while the remaining three has been inside the six-yard box. His dribbling skill and ability to successfully attempting a one on one with a defender is on the high as he attempts three dribbled every 90 minutes with a success rate of 1.4. With the season almost over, Watford will have to fight to keep him as the likes of Arsenal , Manchester United and Chelsea have all been linked to him in the summer.

However with an additional nine more games to play in the EPL before season end , it won't be surprising if the striker ends up scoring more than 20 league goals in his debut season . Whatever happen come summer, Odion Ighalo can be counted as one of tokes who set the EPL on fire with goals in his debut season .

Source :

http://mailtelegraph..com.ng/?m=1