Watford head coach Beppe Sannino believes new signing Odion Ighalo will become an important player for the club.

The Nigerian striker signed a year-long loan deal from sister club Udinese on Tuesday and had his first Hornets outing last night against Coventry City.

"Ighalo is an important player," Sannino said after the match. "He has technical quality and is fast, and in English football that is very important."

Ighalo came on in the 77th minute at Boreham Wood's Meadow Park ground and played on the left of a front three.

When asked if the 25-year-old will be used as a striker or as a wide player, Sannino replied: "I’ll try now. He played tonight because it was a gift for him because he only arrived yesterday."

Ighalo began his professional career in Nigeria with Prime before joining Julius Berger.

A switch to Norwegian side Lyn followed in 2007 and after nine goals in 20 outings across two seasons, Ighalo moved to Italy to join Udinese.

Used sparingly at Udinese in his first season, Ighalo joined Granada on loan for the 2009/10 campaign and netted 17 times to help the Andalusian side to promotion.

Returning the following year, the former Nigerian Under-20 cap scored five times as Granada completed back-to-back promotions to reach La Liga.

A brief stint with Serie A outfit Cesena in 2010 proved unsuccessful and Ighalo returned to Los Carmenes to score 12 league goals in his next three seasons as Granada retained their top-flight status.