Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo prefers Ruud van Nistelrooy as a player over Robin van Persie, saying the older Dutch legend was the better goalscorer.
Asked to pick between the two Red Devils legends on a Periscope live with Juliet Bawuah, Ighalo explained: ‘I would gladly pick Van Nistelrooy.
‘‘Van Nistelrooy is a goalscorer. He does not show skills, he does not try to dribble and all that.
‘’He’s a position striker, like me. A striker who can run between defenders and have space. That’s the kind of striker I learn from.
‘’Don’t get me wrong, Van Persie is a good player. He scored with both feet, he does everything. But Van Nistelrooy is a striker who – when he’s fit – can guarantee you goals in every game.
‘’He runs between defenders, he can score goals, he takes his chances. So I would choose Van Nistelrooy as a proper No.9 centre-forward.’'
Asked to explain his squad number, and whether he would pick a new one, Ighalo continued: ‘’No I don’t think so. The No.25 has been giving me luck so far so why would I want to change it?
‘‘I picked it because when I joined the team that was the jersey that was available, I think that it was No.25 and No.19 – so I picked 25 because when I was in the Premier League before I wore 24 at Watford… so 24 plus one is 25 so I just picked 25.
‘’Legend like Antonio Valencia wore that shirt so it’s a privilege.
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‘’Nigerian Kanu wore the No.25 when he was at Arsenal, so it’s a great number. I just picked it and said, ‘Okay, yeh, lucky number for me.’’’
This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago
