Odion Ighalo has been undergoing double training sessions alongside Great Britain’s Olympic Taekwondo team in his bid to make an instant impact at Manchester United.

United’s deadline-day signing arrived at Old Trafford for the start of the Premier League winter break but his return to England has been no holiday and the 30-year-old plunged straight into working with performance coach Wayne Richardson.

Richardson, who has previously worked with Mario Balotelli, believes the 16-day break between games and United’s warm-weather training camp in Marbella will mean Ighalo will be ready when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side return to action.

“If we didn’t have this break we would have been raising eyebrows,” Richardson said. “United are in a position now where they need someone now. Is there a right time or wrong time? He’s going to Marbella and there is more of a chance of doing quality work with the United staff. He might have to hit the ground running due to injuries. By doing these sessions, he wants to hit the ground running and you can see that from the work he’s doing behind the scenes.

“From the moment he has stepped through the door, he is one of the few players who has blown me away. His determination, drive and willingness. He’s been doing double sessions and we’ve had to hold him back a bit and monitor him because he has fire in his stomach as a professional.”

Ighalo, 30, sealed his loan from Shanghai Shenhua on deadline day, then flew from China over the weekend.

His agent, Ladi Salami, made contact with Richardson and they have worked through the week at the Team GB Taekwondo performance centre in Newton Heath, the birthplace of the club that became United. It is also on the doorstep of City’s Etihad Campus.

Richardson Sport shares the facility, so Ighalo has been rubbing shoulders with Olympic stars such as Jade Jones. Team GB athletes have asked for the odd selfie, while performance director Gary Hall is a Liverpool fan and has joked about United’s rivals sealing the Premier League title.