After protracted negotiations, Manchester United confirmed on Monday they had reached an agreement with Shanghai Shenhua to extend Odion Ighalo’s loan deal till January 2021.
The former Nigeria international’s initial spell ended at the end of May, and his absence for what is set to be a frenzied end to the campaign would have been a blow.
With Man United’s busy schedule set to see them play nine Premier League games in a compressed time frame, with FA Cup games and Europa League matches potentially to follow, having one less player to navigate a tricky period of fixtures would’ve been a challenge.