Odion Ighalo has discussed his delight at playing for boyhood club Manchester United. 

The striker signed for the Red Devils on loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January.

Ighalo told the club's official magazine, Inside United, that he first visited Old Trafford as a fan in 2013, while he was playing for Granada on loan. Three years later, he played at the stadium with Watford:

"Manchester United is a big club. When I saw that, I was amazed. I was outside the stadium, and I took pictures. Then I played there with Watford, against United, and it made me even more happy. I came out of the stadium and stood looking at it.

"This is the stadium you have been watching back home when you were young, and now you're playing here for Watford against Man United. It feels good.

"And even now, playing for United? It's making even greater moments for me."

The 30-year-old revealed he owned United's blue away shirt from the 2005-06 season in his youth, but he could not afford to have a name printed on the back.

His arrival in January raised more than a few eyebrows, as he has been plying his trade in the Chinese Super League for the previous three years. His final months with the Hornets before moving to China didn't inspire much confidence, either, as he scored just twice in his last 20 matches.

However, the Nigerian has enjoyed a superb start to his time with United.

Ighalo has made eight appearances for the Red Devils, starting three of them, and in that time he has scored four times and assisted once. In 318 minutes on the pitch, he's had a direct hand in a goal every 64 minutes on average.

In United's last game, a 5-0 UEFA Europa League last-16 win over Austrian side LASK, he opened the scoring with an emphatic finish before setting up Daniel James for another (U.S., UK only respectively):

Football statistician Dave O'Brien shared his numbers from the game:

He also scored against Club Brugge in the previous round, and notched a brace against Derby County to book United's passage to the quarter-final of the FA Cup.

The Red Devils shared his March highlights on Twitter:

He is yet to score against Premier League opposition for United, but he's played just 30 minutes across four appearances in that competition.

Ighalo is only on loan until June 30. The Premier League as been suspended until at least April 30 following the outbreak of COVID-19, so the future is uncertain for him and other players who are on loan or have their contracts expiring at the end of the campaign.

The 2020 Chinese Super League season was supposed to start on February 22, but it was suspended indefinitely in January.

Per The Independent's Michael Church, the league is reportedly hoping to start the season in May, but on Wednesday a player from second-tier side Meizhou Hakka became the first footballer in the country to test positive for the coronavirus.