The Stoke Sentinel reports from Stoke City that the Potters are the current frontrunners for Ighalo’s signature, with Southampton and West Ham United also taking notice.

Ighalo was part of the Hornets team that earned promotion to the Premier League in 2015, and formed a fruitful partnership in the top flight with fellow forward Troy Deeney, scoring 15 times in his first season.

The 28-year-old moved to Chinese side Changchun Yatai last season, however, after scoring only one goal in 17 appearances for Watford, and the report says that Stoke is now keen on securing Ighalo an English return.

Everton, who lost Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United in the summer, attempted to sign Olivier Giroud from Arsenal to improve their goalscoring potential, but the Toffees have since relied on the services of Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse.

Now reports from Italy suggest the 28-year-old could be on the move again back to England, where his family have stayed.

Stoke City is apparently one of four clubs interested, along with West Ham, Everton, and Southampton. Crystal Palace and West Brom had been interested last year but were put off by the financial demands.

“On a personal level, it is good money for me but if I had my way I 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.”

The striker, who has also played in Norway, Italy, and Spain, is also busy off the pitch launching an orphanage – the Ighalo Orphanage Home – back home in Nigeria. It will open its doors next month.