Odion Ighalo: Watford loan signing targets Premier League promotion

Ighalo (left) has spent the past three seasons in La Liga with Granada

Udinese striker Odion Ighalo has said he has joined Watford on loan with the aim of playing in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old has played the majority of his football in the past five years for Granada in Spain.

He will spend this season with Watford who, like Udinese and Granada, are owned by the Pozzo family.

"My target has always been to play in the Premier League someday and I am confident of fulfilling that ambition with Watford," Ighalo told BBC Sport.

Italian club Udinese signed the Nigeria Under-20 international in 2008 but apart from a spell with Cesena, he has featured predominantly for Granada since then.

Ighalo helped the Spanish side achieve back-to-back promotions to La Liga between 2009 and 2011 and scored twice in 16 games last season.

The Hornets, under boss Beppe Sannino, have recruited heavily this summer, bringing in Heurelho Gomes, Gabriel Tamas, Lloyd Dyer, Craig Cathcart, Matej Vydra, Daniel Toszer, Juan Carlos Paredes and Keith Andrews.

"I've won back-to-back promotions with Granada in Spain, and I know what it means to the club and their fans," he said.

"I have quietly followed Watford's quest for a Premier League promotion ticket in the last couple of years because it's the same owner as Granada and Udinese, so the project here is crystal clear.

"I hope to create history with this club and I already have the motivation to do that. As a professional footballer I know what is expected of me and I hope to give my best to the team."

Ighalo was speaking to BBC Africa's Oluwashina Okeleji