Super Eagles goal King ,Odion Ighalo turned down a chance to play for mighty FC Barcelona this season because he was not ready to risk a loan move to the Catalan giants, National Daily gathered.
Ighalo himself told confidants that he was actually close to joining Barcelona on a season-long loan from relegated Chinese club Changchun Yatai, but he eventually rejected it.
“The deal was for me to play on loan for a season, but I was not ready to take chances as my playing minutes could not be guaranteed and at end of the season I will be a free agent,” Ighalo told friends on the sidelines of a birthday party he threw for his mother in Lagos before he headed out to the Super Eagles camp in Asaba.
“I preferred to secure my future my signing a longer deal in China instead and that was why the Barcelona move fell through.”
Ighalo has since signed a three-year deal with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shensua after they bought the one year left of his contract with Changchun Yatai.