Salomon Rondon confirms Manchester United were interested in him during January transfer window before bringing in Odion Ighalo
Salomon Rondon has claimed Manchester United tried to sign him during the January transfer window.
The Red Devils were linked with a host of strikers last month following a long-term back injury to Marcus Rashford.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ended up bringing in ex-Watford forward Odion Ighalo on loan from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.
But Ighalo was not the only striker in China who United were keeping tabs on, according to Dalian Professional star Rondon.
He told Spanish outlet : “There was something. It was not smoke.
“They were rumours and very strong. In the end it could not be specified and now I have to focus on Dalian.”
Rondon scored 35 goals in 140 Premier League appearances for West Brom and Newcastle.
He signed for the Baggies in a £12million deal from Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2015, before joining Newcastle on loan three years later after his parent club’s relegation to the Championship.
Rondon ended his four-year spell in England by joining Dalian Professional, formerly known as Dalian Yifang, for £16.5million last summer.
Meanwhile, Ighalo made his Manchester United debut as a stoppage time substitute in Monday’s 2-0 win at Chelsea.
And he almost opened his account for his boyhood club when Blues goalkeeper Willy Caballero did well to deny him from close-range.
Solskjaer has been pleased with Ighalo’s impact in the early stages of his United career.
He said: “Well for me, Odion is a different type of striker for us. He’s a box striker, he's a goalscorer. We've already seen in training that he really knows his craft.
“He knows how to play as a centre-forward and he's a fantastic professional, and human being, and he's already added to the squad. The boys have learned his song already, so they've taken to him.
“So I hope he's going to sharpen up quickly, because we know he's been out of season and he needs to do a little bit extra after training most of the time and we try to give him as much game time as possible.
“Unfortunately he didn't score against Chelsea, he had a good chance, that would have been a good start, but I'm sure he will take his chances.”