Manchester United will seek to extend Odion Ighalo’s loan deal which currently expires on May 31.

The Nigeria striker has made a strong impression since arriving on loan on January deadline day from Shanghai Shenhua when the stop-gap move was ridiculed.

However his current deal is set to finish at the end of May, a month earlier than most loan deals which are due to run until June 30.

Fifa, Uefa and FifPro, the world players’ union, have already indicated that clubs will be able to agree short-term contract extensions due to the coronavirus although how that will operate is yet to be decided.

As things stand there is still a hope that football can resume in the summer with various dates being discussed – including the third week in May, which appears extremely optimistic, or June 1 which may also prove to be impossible.

It will be interesting to see, however, whether United instead decide to try and convert Ighalo’s loan into a permanent transfer which the forward, who will be 31 in June, is desperate to secure.

No decision has been made despite a £15million fee being mooted for Ighalo and with Shanghai prepared to sell. But the former Watford striker, who grew up a United fan, has done well scoring four goals in eight appearances and has settled in and became a popular member of the squad. Ighalo had to initially train alone after arriving from China at the height of the coronavirus outbreak in that country.

After United’s victory over Austrian club LASK earlier this month, in the Europa League, and with Ighalo scoring, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested United might be interested in making the deal permanent.

United are certainly in the market for a centre-forward with Ighalo hoping he can be signed on a permanent deal to take that role.