Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, has revealed that he turned down a January move to Spanish champions, Barcelona.
The 29-year-old revealed this in a chat with BBC Sport, he said rejecting the move was “easy” because he had no intention of warming the bench.
He explained: “My agent spoke to me about a loan interest from Barcelona. The club wanted a striker with La Liga experience and someone who understands Spanish football.
“It was meant to be a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker. It was nice to hear that Barcelona were interested and any footballer would be more than happy to take it.
“With due respect I had just finished as the second top scorer in China with 21 goals, I deserve better and didn’t want to be a short-term player somewhere.
“We rejected it, it was an easy decision to make and I chose to stay in China by joining Shanghai Shenhua on a longer contract.”
Ighalo played for Spanish side, Granada, in two spells, in 2009-2010 and 2011-2014, before moving to English side, Watford, in 2014 and scoring 36 league goals for the side.
He later moved to Chinese side, Changchun Yatai, who have since been relegated.
Ighalo currently plays for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese top division.
