{"id":547290,"date":"2020-03-27T09:37:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T13:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=547290"},"modified":"2020-03-27T09:37:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T13:37:54","slug":"manchester-united-need-to-discover-their-new-ruud-van-nistelrooy-in-odion-ighalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/03\/27\/manchester-united-need-to-discover-their-new-ruud-van-nistelrooy-in-odion-ighalo\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United Need to Discover Their \u2018New Ruud van Nistelrooy\u2019 in Odion Ighalo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/manchester-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manchester United<\/a> have a \u2018new Ruud <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/80a30989\/Ruud-van-Nistelrooy?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">van Nistelrooy<\/a>\u2019 in their ranks, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/man-utd-odion-ighalo-transfer-17985270\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manchester Evening News<\/a>. He could prove to be a vital part of the development of their extremely youthful side as the Red Devils look to impress with their promising team. He is <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/03622183\/Odion-Ighalo?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Odion Ighalo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Manchester United Need to Discover Their &#8216;New Ruud van Nistelrooy&#8217; in Odion Ighalo<\/h2>\n<h3>Van Nistelrooy&#8217;s Legacy<\/h3>\n<p>Ruud van Nistelrooy was one of the best strikers in Manchester United\u2019s rich history. He had great finishing ability and was one of the most clinical strikers of his time. He scored 150 goals in his 219 games in Manchester, a truly incredible record for any striker.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his excellent goal contribution, the Dutchman swapped the Red Devils for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/la-liga\/real-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Real Madrid<\/a> in 2006, leaving Old Trafford with just one <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/premier-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Premier League<\/a> title to take from his five seasons there, and nothing in the way of European glory.<\/p>\n<p>Scoring goals was not all that he left for United, though.<\/p>\n<p>He was Manchester United\u2019s striker, and a great one at that, while young players were developing. <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/f07be45a\/Wayne-Rooney?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wayne Rooney<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/dea698d9\/Cristiano-Ronaldo?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> were starting to become the incredible players they turned out as, and United needed someone who could both carry the attack, and provide an example to these young players. Van Nistelrooy did exactly that, and he did it to perfection.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Devils need <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/03622183\/Odion-Ighalo?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Odion Ighalo<\/a> to step into that sort of role now<\/p>\n<h3>Why Ighalo can be the New van Nistelrooy<\/h3>\n<p>Although Ighalo has not yet reached the levels of golden boot competition, he can prove to be a similar figure. Despite Ighalo\u2019s signing having seemed laughable when it happened on deadline day, it is not so funny anymore. The Nigerian has scored four goals in three starts for the Red Devils and has shown his attacking prowess since joining on loan, earning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-8113203\/Odion-Ighalo-6m-pay-cut-join-Man-United-permanently.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rumours<\/a> of a possible permanent transfer.<\/p>\n<p>He can also help their very youthful side grow. Their current attacking trio of <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/a1d5bd30\/Marcus-Rashford?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Rashford<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/8b788c01\/Anthony-Martial?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Martial<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/58eee997\/Mason-Greenwood?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mason Greenwood<\/a>, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/c931d9f9\/Daniel-James?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel James<\/a>, is still young and needs time to develop. This is where Ighalo is perfect, still with the quality to start and score goals, but also helping to provide their youngsters with the perfect environment for growth.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"vm05l2fySL9Ytmh768hJjA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1211144425\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'vm05l2fySL9Ytmh768hJjA',sig:'EfDV3hOFl8nzXd1pk2C1YOZZoPPAHlN9s9wWwbpyjLo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1211144425',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United have a \u2018new Ruud van Nistelrooy\u2019 in their ranks, according to the Manchester Evening News. He could prove to be a vital part of the development of their extremely youthful side as the Red Devils look to impress with their promising team. He is Odion Ighalo. Manchester United Need to Discover Their &#8216;New [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3312,"featured_media":547305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,3],"tags":[4063,432,3319,36,253,4160,4843,3197,5116,136],"class_list":["post-547290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-premier-league","tag-2019-20-premier-league","tag-anthony-martial","tag-daniel-james","tag-manchester-united","tag-marcus-rashford","tag-mason-greenwood","tag-odion-ighalo","tag-ole-gunnar-solskjaer","tag-ruud-van-nistlerooy","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}