‘We don’t expect miracles from anyone’ – Juan Mata explains why Odion Ighalo may find it hard acclimatising at Man Utd

Manchester United and Spain Midfielder Juan Mata has advised fans not to expect much from January signing Odion Ighalo, saying he even found it hard clicking with his teammates when he signed for Manchester United from Chelsea in January of 2014.

Ighalo alongside Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United in January with the club desperately needing additions to salvage its season.

While Bruno Fernandes has scored a goal and an assist in the EPL and given a good account of himself in the three games he has played, Ighalo has come close to scoring on all three occasions but Mata has warned fans not to expect a miracle with Ighalo.

Mata speaking to ManUtd.com said: “Odion has experience of playing in the Premier League and hopefully he will score many goals for us from now until the end of the season, and, as the manager said, he’s a good character as well and he’s got a good personality which has fitted straight into the dressing room. The better he does, then the better for us – and I wish him all the best.”

“It’s probably not ideal (arriving in January) because you don’t have a pre-season tour or the time to really get into the pattern of the team, but it depends.

“It takes time for a player to settle and we shouldn’t expect any miracles from anyone, but I’m sure that with the right mindset and the right qualities like Bruno and Odion have they will be a big help for us.

“Sometimes you have seen players arrive in January and they have been a great success for the clubs they’ve signed for, maybe even sometimes better than when players have arrived in the summer.

“So I don’t think it has a lot of impact in the long term. Maybe in the short term, it’s not the easiest but in the long term it’s irrelevant,” the Spaniard added.