Manchester United’s latest signing Odion Ighalo lavished praise on former Bafana Bafana midfielder Quinton Fortune after becoming the latest African to join the club.
Ighalo, 30, made a surprise deadline day move to the Theatre of Dreams on a six-month loan from Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Shenhua.
Scroll through the gallery above to see all the African stars who represented Manchester United
As a result, the former Super Eagles striker became the seventh African to play for the Premier League giants and he revealed his choice of number is inspired by the South African.
Fortune was the first player from the continent to represent the Red Devils when Sir Alex Ferguson roped him in from Atletico Madrid in 1999 and he went on to win three major titles in seven years with the club.
“I watched Quinton Fortune play for Man United, he’s a great player, and I know he put on 2,” he told the club’s website.
“So I said 25 is good even though I didn’t get the number I was looking for. Twenty-five is a perfect number. One above what I wore before when I was in the Premier League.”
Ighalo will be hoping to make his United debut when the league resumes in two weeks time, with United set to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
