UD Almeria of Spain striker, Umar Sadiq could become the next Nigerian player to feature for Spanish LaLiga side, Valencia, following the inability of his club to gain promotion.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, with Almeria set to spend yet another season in the lower cadre Segunda Liga, Umar is expected to seek a way out of the doldrums and a move to Los Che is now on the cards.
The former AS Roma of Italy, Glasgow Rangers of Scotland and Partizan Belgrade of Serbia hitman could now take after Sunday ‘Sunny’ Stephen as the next Nigerian to play in the colours of Valencia, should the link prove to be true.
The only snag that could block Sadiq from making the move is that he still has a contract running with Almeria till June 2025, after they paid five million euro to sign him from Partizan in October and his transfer market value is now put at eight Million Euros.
Nonetheless, a report out of The Land of The Armada indicates that Sadiq has received what was described as ‘a very tempting’ offer from Valencia, after his club crashed out in the LaLiga promotion play-offs at the feet of Girona.
A source informed SCORENigeria about the development in favour of the lanky striker, who was part of Nigeria’s bronze winning team at Rio 2016 Olympics and netted 20 goals this past season, adding: “Valencia are in the forefront to sign Sadiq. They have made a mouth-watering offer to him.”
This comes at a point Sadiq is lamenting the failed promotion bid by Almeria, who finished fourth in La Liga 2 but fell 3-0 on aggregate to Girona in the promotion play-offs semi-final, yet the former Olympic Eagles star has been linked with several top clubs in Spain on the back of his rain of goals this season.
Sadiq’s side fell short of the top flight after they were unable to overturn a three-goal first leg deficit against the White and Reds
The Kaduna-born lad is now left to reflect on his future, after emerging the leading star in an ambitious squad that failed to make it back to the Spanish elite division after demotion in the 2014/15 season.
However, a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Francisco Vilchez’s side proved too much to overcome, following a 0-0 draw in the second leg at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos and, though Sadiq played from start to finish, the soft-spoken attacker he could not make any difference.
Afterwards, the dark-skinned player, who earlier voiced his desire to win the Segunda Division’s top scorer’s award and help Almeria return to La Liga, lamented that he could not save the day for Los Rojiblancos.
Despite netting 20 goals in 39 league games, Sadiq finished behind Sporting Gijon’s Uros Djurdjevic (22 goals) and Espanyol’s Raul de Tomas (23 goals) in the race for the Golden Boot prize, which marked a case of double disappointment for him.
Sadiq told Almeria’s official website: “I’m satisfied, on a personal level, with the goals that I’ve scored so far.
“But, the important thing is not that. All that matters is that we can win promotion to Primera Division, which is the prime objective.
“I don’t look at what the other players who also have scored many goals are doing, although it’s clear that I’d like my team to get promoted and also be the top scorer.
“We, strikers, are here to score goals and help our teams, so in addition to scoring, I like giving assists and contributing as much as I can to the team.”
