A weekend of thrills from Nigerian players extended into the new week, with Umar Sadiq on fire once again for UD Almeria of Spain, while updated transfer market reports revealed that the stock of Slavia Prague of Czech Republic attacker, Peter Olayinka had soared to an all-time high.
With Olayinka recently in the news for the right reasons and helping his side pull off a series of shocks in the UEFA Europa League, it was just a matter of time before his value escalated, while Lanre Kehinde got a hat-trick in Turkey and Sadiq continues firing strong on all cylinders.
Sadiq was again on song on Monday, as the former AS Roma of Italy, Glasgow Rangers of Scotland and Partizan Belgrade of Spain hitman scored in a 1-1 draw with LaLiga 2 table-toppers Espanyol at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos.
Megasportsarena.com gathered further that Sadiq, whose form over the last eight months saw him invited to the Super Eagles for the first time ever last month, scored four minutes after the restart, with a cross-shot that had to go through a VAR review before being awarded.
However, Almeria’s celebration did not last long, as Dimata equalized in the 58th minute to earn a draw for the visitors, but Sadiq is still close to bettering his personal scoring record, having hit home 24 goals and provided seven assists so far this term.
While Almeria’s draw with Espanyol puts them ten points behind the Barcelona-based side in the race for promotion to the Spanish top-flight, Sadiq has improved on his mark of 17 goals and 17 assists from 34 matches last season.
In Turkey, Lanre Kehinde bagged a hat-trick to help Umraniyespor defeat Ankaraspor 4-3 in a Turkish 1st Lig fixture played at Umraniye Belediyesi Sehir Stadi on Monday, where the home team found themselves two goals down inside 30 minutes with Marcus Pedersen and Erdem Cetinkaya getting on the scoresheet.
Three minutes before half-time, Kehinde was presented with a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit but saw his shot sail over the bar and the former Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel youth team player would not be denied in the second minute of first-half stoppage time as he headed home a corner-kick from Kartal Yilmaz.
Kehinde then volleyed home to turn the game on its head on the hour mark, and then grabbed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute, but Ercan Yazici leveled for the visitors three minutes later, only for the Nigerian lad to provide an assist that helped Serkan Göksu netted the winning goal for Umraniyespor in the 87th at minute.
The 26-year-old Kehinde, who previously had spells at MKE Ankaragücu, Incheon United, Hapoel Kfar Saba, Elazigspor, Denizlispor, Hapoel Acre and Hapoel Afula, joined Umraniyespor in the winter transfer market and opened his goals scoring account for the club in a 4-1 victory away to Boluspor on April 15.
In Czech Republic, a report has emerged showing Olayinka has reached the highest market value in his professional career, after Transfermarkt released current ratings of footballers plying their trade in the East European country and the winger is now worth seven million euros.
This in consonance with a recent burst of top form that has seen the former SV Zulte Waregem and KAA Gent of Belgium star romp home 11 goals and five assists in 34 games, with his quite impressive marks rolling to an all-time high despite struggling with injury this season.
An additional report by allnigeriasoccer.com disclosed further: “Olayinka is having a banner season, helping Slavia Prague qualify for the quarterfinals of the Europa League, where they were defeated by Arsenal, and the Czech champions remain unbeaten in the Fortuna Liga.
“The 25-year-old is reportedly drawing interest from West Ham United ahead of the opening of the summer transfer window. Olayinka was rated at six million euros on December 27, 2020, meaning he has gained one million euros in approximately four months.
“He is the fourth most expensive player in the Czech top-flight, third when it comes to Slavia Prague players – surpassed only by Abdallah Sima and Ondrej Kolar – and ranks 12th among Nigerian players.”
