With the help of journalists from Norway and
Spain, we profile Watford striker Odion Ighalo -
now the top scorer in English football in 2015.
Sergio Aguero scored five against Newcastle last
time out but there's still a Premier League striker
with more English league goals than him this year.
Odion Ighalo's equaliser for Watford against
Bournemouth took his tally for the calendar year
to 21 goals. The Nigerian is the country's top
scorer in 2015.
Ighalo has scored the most goals in the English leagues
so far in 2015
Remarkably, it was only earlier this month that
Ighalo was surpassed as the Championship's top
scorer in the calendar year - and he scored his
last goal at that level in mid-April. The 26-year-old
was a surprise hit for the Hornets, scoring 16
times after Christmas to help the team into the top
flight.
Last season's goals came at a rate of one every
97 minutes. It wasn't a fluke. Even in the Premier
League, the goals have continued to come. Five
and counting at a rate of one every 122 minutes
this season. So how did this goalscorer end up at
Watford? It's certainly been a curious route to the
top.
Record breaker?
Odion Ighalo has scored in five consecutive Premier
League games but has some way to go to match
Alan Shearer's record of scoring in nine games in a
row in 1993.
Indeed, it's tempting to think that Ighalo's
relatively late blooming can be explained by his
unusual career progression. Born in Lagos, his
European adventure began in Norway with mid-
table Lyn. Before long he was attracting attention
from fellow Tippeligaen rivals Brann but the deal
was scuppered by interest from Italy.
Oyvind Askeland is a journalist with Norwegian
paper VG and recalls the fuss. "Lyn were investing
heavily in talents from Nigeria in the middle of the
2000s," Askeland told Sky Sports . "But as with
John Obi Mikel when he became a Chelsea player,
there was quite a lot of trouble around Ighalo
when he left for Udinese after two seasons in
Norway.

"Brann announced in July 2008 that they had
signed Ighalo and even sold one of their strikers
to make room for him. Brann said that they had a
'gentleman's agreement' with Ighalo and his agent
Atta Aneke but this was denied by the pair. The
case was sent to the Norwegian FA but they
didn't find anything wrong and Brann decided not
to appeal."
The Udinese move was not a success. Ighalo
scored just once in Serie A before being loaned to
Granada in Spain's third tier. The club had been
newly acquired by Giampaolo Pozzo, the long-time
owner of Udinese and marked the beginning of an
unusual five-year loan stay that took Ighalo all the
way to La Liga.
He has a lot of attributes that match
the Premier League which didn't match
La Liga. There are more spaces here,
and because he's fast and can get to
the ball first it helps him.
Guillem Balague on Odion Ighalo
He had his moments in Spain. There was the time,
in 2013, when he gave Granada the lead against
Barcelona before two second-half goals by Lionel
Messi stole the headlines. The following year he
was among the exclusive group of players to
breach Atletico Madrid's defence in their title-
winning campaign.
However, in total, Ighalo scored just 12 goals in 74
La Liga games. And yet, the potential was there.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague believes
he is simply better suited to English football.
"Some people don't realise how much of a
goalscorer Ighalo is," Balague told Sky Sports . "He
has a lot of attributes that match the Premier
League which didn't match La Liga.
The link-up play between Ighalo and Deeney was too good
for Newcastle
"For instance, in La Liga the marking is tighter and
more collective. There are more spaces here, and
because he's fast and can get to the ball first it
helps him. Sometimes, the same as how Roberto
Soldado is a striker for La Liga and not for the
Premier League, it works the other way around."
Released by Udinese last October, his loan deal at
Watford - yet another club owned by the Pozzo
family - was immediately converted into a
permanent transfer. He soon won over supporters,
scoring four second-half goals against Blackpool,
and the club's then boss Slavisa Jokanovic
praised his quality and work rate. But the summer
threatened to bring another twist.
Watford strikers Ighalo and Deeney interview each other
for Sky Sports
The Chinese second tier was looming for the
nomadic Ighalo. Hebei China Fortune had come up
with a reported £10m offer and a salary of around
£50,000 per week. He was tempted. "They offered
me crazy money," said Ighalo. "But I don't think it
is a good league for me. It is not always about
the money." Staying put already looks a smart
move.
Not only does Ighalo have a key role in the
dressing room, such as in helping former Granada
team-mate Allan Nyom settle in at the club, but he
has developed a strong partnership with Watford
captain Troy Deeney. It's the sort of chemistry
that Ighalo cannot rely upon finding elsewhere.
Troy Deeney has assisted three of Ighalo's Premier
League goals so far
So far this season, Deeney has assisted three of
his goals. That makes it the most common goal
combination in the Premier League. Operating
slightly deeper, Deeney has sacrificed his own
goalscoring instincts to help bring the best out of
his partner. "We put Ighalo closer to the goal as
his feeling close to the goal is good," said Watford
boss Quique Sanchez Flores.
That's certainly proving to be the case. Ighalo is
one of only 13 forwards in the Premier League to
get five or more clear-cut chances this season
and he boasts the best conversion rate among all
of them. While Ighalo praises Deeney's work rate,
even his skipper admits Ighalo is "naturally a
better finisher" than him.
You can see that they're never more
than 10 or 15 yards apart from each
other. That's the sign of a good
partnership.
Kevin Phillips on Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney
They have worked at the partnership. Ighalo says
playing "closer together" was the plan, and former
Watford and England striker Kevin Phillips feels
that's key. "You can see that they're never more
than 10 or 15 yards apart from each other,"
Phillips told Sky Sports . "That's the sign of a good
partnership. And this boy can score. He's a
goalscorer."
The challenge now is to keep the run going.
Recently, Ighalo spoke of his pride at his top-
scorer status but, with Jordan Rhodes and Benik
Afobe playing in the division below, maintaining
his advantage might be too much to expect.
Flores will settle for keeping his top scorer happy
at Vicarage Road.
www.skysports.com/football/news/32626/10028098/watford8217s-odion-ighalo-is-the-top-scorer-in-english-football-in-2015

Good record. I hv no doubt abt his potentials. I first watched him in U20 Word Cup in Egypt tutored by Siasia. I was impressed by his performance despite d team's poor outing in d competition, his star shone very brightly. I know we shall see more of him in d comin days wt d Super Eagle. Rid on!!!

Wow!!! Interesting!





The Super Eagles will need more of that.

Good one bro... Goals wey I dae score a week for my street fit full drum.. God will take me there.. I believe... Watch out for F.Ighalo (fighal) in the nearest future!
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#shallom

That dude has scored 83.3% of all goals Watford had scored this season. But since he isn't English, you won't see much about him in those British websites. Mods, make we promote our own boy. Mukina2, lalasticlala etc.. Front page please

He has scored in 5 consecutive matches ..... I hope he will score come Saturday to make it 6 matches 6 goals