The first thing that would need to happen for Arsenal to be able to sign the Watford and Nigeria international star Odion Ighalo in the summer would be for Arsene Wenger to make the attempt, of course, and for the player and his current club to agree to make the deal.
According to a Metro report, though, the latter two of these conditions are already set to happen at the end of the season. Despite the 26-year old having taken the Premier League by storm in his debut season, the Hornets know that they cannot force him to stay with them and are already lining up his replacement in the shape of Isaac Success from La Liga’s Granada.
And with Watford ready to accept a transfer fee of around £12 million, possibly because of a release clause in his contract, Ighalo is surely going to appeal to our ‘careful with money’ manager. But the striker is also being linked with our EPL rivals Chelsea and Man United, so why do I think the Gunners can win the transfer battle?
For one thing Ighalo himself was full of praise for the Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny, as reported by the Evening Standard, talking about the Frenchman as the hardest player he has had to play against this season. And if Koscielny can help the Gunners to the Premier League title that will make it easier for us to sign any player.
Another reason is the emergence of Alex Iwobi from the Arsenal academy. The youngster was hailed as being the future of the Nigerian national side this week by his fellow countryman and former Gunner Kanu in a report on the Arsenal website and I am sure this has been noticed by Ighalo. Playing together for Arsenal would help them shine for Nigeria as well so has Wenger got the edge in the upcoming transfer battle?