Odion Ighalo: 'I wanted to stay in the Premier League'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 05 February 2017

Odion Ighalo admits that his first choice was to stay in the Premier League, but Watford's "demands" were only met by Chinese club Changchun Yatai.

Changchun Yatai striker Odion Ighalo has revealed that his first choice was to stay in the Premier League, but claims that Watford's "demands" proved too high for the interested English clubs.

The Nigeria international signed for the Chinese Super League outfit in a £20m deal last month, describing his salary as good "on a personal level".

Ighalo told The Sun: "When the options came, my priority was to stay in England. West Bromwich Albion came but what Watford wanted made it impossible to go there. Crystal Palace, too, showed strong interest but Watford's demands put them off as well. It was only China that could give them what they wanted.

"On a personal level, it is good money for me but if I had my way I would love to stay in the Premier League. I have my family here, the kids are in school here, they have their friends here and getting that stability is never easy when you keep moving your family. But what can we do? Life goes on."

Ighalo joined Watford in 2014 from Italian club Udinese after an initial loan spell and scored 39 goals in 100 appearances for the Hornets.