Odion Ighalo: Solskjaer confident Nigerian will extend his stay at Manchester United

- Odion Ighalo's current deal with Man United expires this month end

- The Nigerian star joined the Red Devils on a short term loan deal earlier this year

- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to persuade Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua to allow the Nigerian star stay at Old Trafford until the end of the season

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hoping Shanghai Shenhua can allow Nigerian star Odion Ighalo finished the good works he started at Old Trafford earlier this year.

The 30-year-old forward joined the Red Devils on the last day of the January transfer window on a short term loan deal and has already scored four goals and one assist in eight matches.

His arrival was necessitated as a back up for injured Marcus Rashford who suffered a backache problem during their slim victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the first month of the year.

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However, the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic will mean Ighalo cannot finish the season in England as his deal with the Premier League club is expiring soon.

And with United reluctant on making his deal permanent, the Chinese club wants their player back ahead of the league resumption in July.

Solskjaer wants to extend the Nigerian star's stay until the end of the elongated season but his parent club seems not to be interested in that plan.

The Norwegian boss told MUTV Group Chat: “The loan deal went until the end of May now, so obviously he’s supposed to be going back,”

“We’re in dialogue. They’ve been great towards us, his club, and allowed him to play for his dream club.

”It’s been a dream for him and hopefully he can finish off what he started, hopefully with a trophy for us. At the moment, nothing has been agreed. "Their league is going to get started soon so we’re just waiting to see,” Solskjaer concluded.

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Meanwhile, all the players have returned to the training complex as they await the restart of Premier League tentatively set for mid-June.

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The stakeholders are still meeting to finalise modalities on the operation of the league in the wake of COVID-19 that has killed over 350,000 people, while over 5 million cases have been recorded.

Apart from the EPL, United are still in contention for the Europa League and the FA Cup titles as they hope to win their first silverware since 2017.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo is hoping he can plead with Shanghai Shenhua to allow him to extend his stay at Manchester United beyond the initial expiration date.

The 30-year-old striker moved to Old Trafford on a six months loan deal in late January from the Chinese based club.

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His deal was due at the end of this season but the outbreak of deadly coronavirus means he would not stay until the Premier League is concluded.

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