Why Hull and Swansea should scupper Watford man’s Napoli move
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Odion Ighalo’s second-season syndrome in the Premier League is causing Watford to consider cashing in on the Nigerian striker.
That’s at least according to the Daily Mirror, who insist that Napoli are keen to take the 27-year-old to Italy despite his wretched form.
Ighalo has just one Premier League goal and one EFL Cup strike to his name this season after breaking onto the scene in red-hot fashion last term.
The former Granada man’s tally of 15 league strikes was the joint-seventh highest in the division during 2015/16 and even prompted links to Manchester United.
However, most of those goals came in the early part of the campaign and during the current calendar year, Ighalo has struck just three times.
As a result, Watford are weighing up an exit strategy, but clubs closer than Napoli should be eager to provide the escape route.
After all, a fanciful switch to Serie A would see Ighalo join a side that sit fourth in the league despite losing Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus over the summer.
Jose Callejon has done a fine job in his place by six league goals and minutes may therefore be hard to come by for an out-of-sorts Ighalo.
Instead, any of the current top-flight bottom four, who have scored less than a goal per game through their first nine outings, would be a better move.
Hull would offer the quickest route to the first-team, with youngster Will Keane backing up Abel Hernandez.
With the Tigers’ odds for relegation precarious at 4/9 though, it may be Swansea that provide the better move.
The Welsh outfit are 13/8 for relegation and, despite signing Borja Baston and Fernando Llorente this summer, look light on firepower with just eight goals scored thus far.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
