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Watford striker Odion Ighalo has revealed he rejected a summer move to China worth almost £300,000-a-week to chase his Premier League dream.

The in-form forward, who has scored 14 times in the top flight this season, had the chance to join the money-spinning league over the summer.

He was promised a sum of £40million over the course of a four-year contract as the Hornets were on the brink of returning to the top flight.

Ighalo said no, but the offers kept coming, each increasing his pay packet. The latest was double the original.

The 26-year-old admitted he almost made the switch when he was given permission to speak to Hebei China Fortune last summer, but is glad he remained at Vicarage Road.

(Image: Clive Mason)

"I was very close," he told the Daily Mail. "They made a £10m bid and were offering me over £200,000 a week; a four-year contract. I couldn’t sleep for three days. That kind of money is not easy to turn down.

"Some team-mates in the dressing room were saying, 'You can’t miss this chance'. But I don’t jump into decisions like that.

"I prayed about it, and God said it was not for me, no matter how much money it was. I knew God would direct me. When I said I don’t want to go, they offered me more money, almost £300,000 a week. I told them it’s not about the money."

READ MORE: Should the Premier League be worried about China?

(Image: Dan Mullan/Getty)

Ighalo has since gone on to become one of the standout performers in this year's competition, having signed a five-year deal in September, thought to be worth around £30,000-a-week, a tenth of the sum he could have earned in China.

His impressive performances have steered Watford into an impressive ninth place in the Premier League, having already picked up nine wins this season.

They travel to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham this afternoon.