'It's not something I have to rush' - Retired Eagle Ighalo set to resist pressure from Rohr, Pinnick

Published: October 29, 2021

Former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo has clarified that he is not rushing to come out of international retirement amid viral reports in the local media that he was set to make a 'shock return' to the Super Eagles for their 2022 World Cup qualifying matches against Liberia and Cape Verde.

Allnigeriasoccer.com broke the news on Thursday that Franco-German football tactician Gernot Rohr and Nigerian Federation chief Amaju Pinnick have embarked on a wild-goose chase by making contact with Ighalo to reverse his decision to retire from international football.

Despite pressure from Rohr and his principal, the Al-Shabab striker has refused to rescind his decision.

In Ighalo's recent public statements, he is being very diplomatic in order not to displease the powers that be at the Nigeria Football Federation and his former coach Rohr.

Before the 2018 World Cup, the ex-Udinese, Granada and Watford man thought about retiring from the Super Eagles immediately after the tournament in Russia but extended it by a year to enable him feature at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Ighalo said : "Talks have been going on for a while now, and I respect the coach and the NFF president.

"But it's still an ongoing talk and it's not something I have to rush."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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