Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has stated that he, Cristiano Ronaldo and most of the players in the Saudi Arabia are playing in the Saudi Arabian league because of money, Soccernet.ng reports.
Ighalo left mainstream Europe for Saudi Arabian club Chang Chung Yatai in 2017 after stints at Lyn, Udinese, Granada, Cesena, and Watford. The Nigerian striker made a mark with Watford, helping them qualify from the English Championship to the Premier League.
Ighalo registered 40 goals and eleven assists in 100 appearances for the hornets, ensuring that he commanded a salary of €200,000 weekly when he moved to Chang Chung Yatai. Two years later, the Nigerian striker moved to another Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, where he also commanded a similar amount.
Ighalo spent a year in Shanghai before moving to Manchester United on a six-month loan deal. Afterwards, the 34-year-old sealed a move to Al Shabbab, where he started earning €170,000. Ighalo’s transfer to the Saudi League coincided with the time when the league was undergoing a face-lift and money was being pumped into it.
Two years later, Portuguese star Ronaldo moved to another Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr in a blockbuster three-year deal that would see him earn €210.704 million in total. That signaled the influx of players from mainstream Europe.
However, some of these stars who have moved to Saudi Arabia hardly admit that they joined the League because of money, despite earning hundreds of thousands in euros.
However, Nigerian striker Ighalo is not shy about his motivation for moving to Saudi Arabia. In a recent interview, the Nigerian striker revealed that he and most of the foreign players in the league decided to move because of money.
“I don’t know when God says stop, but I know I not going to be more than three years before I stop. I’ve played for passion all my life, I have to play for money now,” Ighalo told Oma TV.
I’m not one of those players that will say I am playing football for passion. I am playing for money, at the end of the day it is about the money.
“See people that are going to Saudi Arabia, big players. Is Ronaldo still playing for passion? He has made more 100 times of what I have in my life, but he still went to Saudi. You want to tell me that is passion? No, it’s for money.
“It’s only when we Africans say it they will say we like money. But these people don’t care, some of them want to be highest paid and all that.
“I am not those players that will tell you we are playing football for passion”
– Odion Ighalo pic.twitter.com/nzwKo1VVkF
— 🐬 @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) April 23, 2024
Ighalo is currently with Al Wehda, where he has registered 12 goals in 26 appearances for the club. He is currently 17 goals behind Ronaldo, who has 29 goals this season.