Newly-signed Changchun Yatai striker Odion Ighalo admitted that he had settled for the $240,000-per-week paycheck he is set to receive from the Chinese Super League club when he decided to leave Watford last week.

Ighalo, 27, was transferred to Changchun Yatai from English Premier League side Watford FC on Jan. 31 in a $25 million deal. He was signed to a multi-year contract that would earn him a weekly wage of $240,000, a significant upgrade from the $37,500-a-week salary he received with the Hornets.

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However, the Nigeria international recently confessed that what he really wanted was to stay in the Premier League even without the eye-watering salary as West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace were rumored to be interested in signing him, The Sun reported.

The report said that West Brom and Palace have submitted an offer to Watford for Ighalo but the bids were nowhere near the amount of what Changchun had proposed. The Hornets eventually turned down both proposals from the Premier League squads as the club chose to push through with the China deal.

Ighalo said that he wanted to move out of Watford so badly that he accepted the offer to move to the Far East. "When the options came, my priority was to stay in England. West Brom came but what Watford wanted made it impossible to go there," said Ighalo, via SkySports. "Crystal Palace, too, showed strong interest but Watford's demands put them off as well."

Ighalo disclosed that Changchun was the only team willing to submit to Watford's demands and that he understands that "football is business, they sell and buy to make a profit". 

He then said that that the money in China is good "on a personal level", but if he would have the choice then "would love to stay in the Premier League".

"I have my family here, the kids are in school here, they have their friends here and getting that stability is never easy when you keep moving your family. But what can we do? Life goes on," he ended.

TagsChinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Chinese Super League News 2017, Odion Ighalo, Changchun Yatai FC, Watford FC