Umar Sadiq

Umar Sadiq Mesbah (born 2 February 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club UD Almería.

Umar Sadiq
Sadiq with Nigeria at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Full name Umar Sadiq Mesbah
Date of birth (1997-02-02) 2 February 1997
Place of birth Kaduna, Nigeria
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Almería
Number 9
Youth career
Kusa Boys
Future of Africa
Abuja
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Spezia 0 (0)
2014 → Lavagnese (loan) 1 (0)
2015–2016 → Roma (loan) 6 (2)
2016–2020 Roma 0 (0)
2016–2017 → Bologna (loan) 7 (0)
2017 → Torino (loan) 3 (0)
2018 → NAC Breda (loan) 12 (5)
2018 → Rangers (loan) 1 (0)
2019 → Perugia (loan) 17 (3)
2019–2020 → Partizan (loan) 18 (11)
2020 Partizan 16 (7)
2020– Almería 21 (11)
National team‡
2016 Nigeria U23 6 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 December 2019

Sadiq also represents the Nigeria national under-23 team and was an important member of the squad that won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[1]

Club career

Early years

Born in Kaduna, Sadiq started playing football on the streets of his hometown at an early age.[2] He later played for local team Kusa Boys,[3] before joining the Future of Africa Football Academy and finally the Football College Abuja.[2] In June 2013, Sadiq traveled with FCA to Croatia and participated at the Kvarnerska Rivijera youth tournament.[4] He finished as the competition's top scorer and helped his team become the champions.[4]

Spezia

Following his promising performances in Croatia, Sadiq was acquired by Italian club Spezia. He failed to make any first-team appearances, but played regularly for the youth setup. In the 2014–15 season, Sadiq became the Campionato Primavera top scorer, tallying an impressive 26 goals in 24 games.[5]

Loan to Lavagnese

Shortly upon joining Spezia, Sadiq was loaned to Serie D side Lavagnese, making his senior debut in the final round of the 2013–14 season.[6]

Loan to Roma

In July 2015, Sadiq joined Roma on a one-year loan. He was transferred alongside his teammate and compatriot Nura Abdullahi for €250,000 each with a buyout clause of €1,250 million per player.[7] Having bagged eight goals in his first three Primavera matches for Roma, Sadiq made his Serie A debut on 21 November, replacing Juan Iturbe after 88 minutes in a 2–2 away draw against Bologna. He scored his first goal on 20 December, netting only seven minutes after coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Mohamed Salah, helping his team to a 2–0 home win over Genoa.[8] On 6 January 2016, Sadiq bagged his second goal in his first start for Roma, opening the scoring in the 7th minute of an eventual 3–3 away draw against Chievo.[9] He finished the season with two goals in six Serie A appearances.

Roma

On 21 June 2016, it was announced that Roma exercised the option and signed Sadiq, as well as Nura, permanently until 30 June 2020.[10] He traveled with the first team to the United States for the 2017 International Champions Cup, scoring in his only appearance against Paris Saint-Germain, as Roma lost after penalties.[11]

Loan to Bologna

On 31 August 2016, Sadiq was sent on loan to Bologna until the end of the season with a purchase option.[12] He appeared in seven Serie A games, before returning to Roma.

Loan to Torino

On 16 August 2017, it was announced that Sadiq would be joining Torino on loan until 30 June 2018.[13] The deal included an option to make the move permanent with a buyback clause in favour of Roma.[14]

Loan to NAC Breda

In January 2018, Sadiq moved on a six-month loan to Dutch side NAC Breda with an extension option.[15] He helped the club narrowly avoid relegation, contributing with five goals in 12 Eredivisie appearances.

Loan to Rangers

In July 2018, Sadiq joined Scottish Premiership side Rangers on a season-long loan.[16] After just four first-team appearances in all competitions, his loan spell was terminated by the end of the year.[17]

Loan to Perugia

In January 2019, Sadiq joined Serie B side Perugia for the remainder of the season.[18] He scored three times in 17 appearances, helping his team to an eight-place finish with a chance to win promotion to Serie A via the playoffs. However, Perugia lost in the preliminary round to Verona after extra time.

Loan to Partizan

In early July 2019, Sadiq completed his loan move to Serbian club Partizan that included an option to buy.[19] He made his official debut in a 1–0 away league win against Inđija on 21 July. On 4 August, Sadiq netted his first goal for the club in a 4–0 home league victory over Mačva Šabac. He subsequently scored the opener in an eventual 3–1 home win versus Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round.[20] On 3 October, he netted a brace to give his team a 2–1 away victory against Astana in Europa League's Group L. He scored his first senior hat-trick in a 6–2 home league win over Javor Ivanjica on 22 November.

Almería

On 5 October 2020, Sadiq joined Spanish Segunda División side UD Almería on a five-year contract.[21]

International career
Sadiq in action for Nigeria against Colombia at the 2016 Olympics

In July 2016, Sadiq was named in Nigeria's final 18-man squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[22] He appeared in all six of his team's games and scored four goals in the process, including a brace in the third-place victory over Honduras.[23]

Career statistics
As of 5 August 2020[24]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Spezia 2013–14 Serie B 0000——0000
2014–15 Serie B 0000——0000
2015–16 Serie B 0000——0000
Total 0000——0000
Lavagnese (loan) 2013–14 Serie D 1000——0010
Roma (loan) 2015–16 Serie A 6200—00—62
Roma 2016–17 Serie A 0000—00—00
2017–18 Serie A 0000—00—00
2018–19 Serie A 0000—00—00
2019–20 Serie A 0000—00—00
Total 6200—00—62
Bologna (loan) 2016–17 Serie A 7000———70
Torino (loan) 2017–18 Serie A 3000———30
NAC Breda (loan) 2017–18 Eredivisie 12500———125
Rangers (loan) 2018–19 Scottish Premiership 1000201[lower-alpha 1]0—40
Perugia (loan) 2018–19 Serie B 17300——1[lower-alpha 2]0183
Partizan (loan) 2019–20 Serbian SuperLiga 241230—12[lower-alpha 1]5—3917
Partizan 2020–21 Serbian SuperLiga 10600—3[lower-alpha 1]0—136
Total 341830—165—5223
Almería 2020–21 Segunda División 211132———2413
Career total 1023962201651012746
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in Promotion playoffs

Honours

Club
Roma

International
Nigeria

References
  1. "Olympics 2016: Nigeria beat Honduras to win men's football bronze". bbc.com. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  2. "11 facts you need to know about Sadiq Umar". asroma.com. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  3. "Meet the Primavera: 22 questions for Sadiq Umar". asroma.com. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  4. "Mladi Nigerijci osvojili 61. izdanje Kvarnerske rivijere" (in Croatian). novilist.hr. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  5. "Umar Sadiq: una macchina da gol al servizio della Roma" (in Italian). gazzettaregionale.it. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  6. "34a Giornata - 04/05/2014" (in Italian). derthona.it. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  7. "Roma, presi Sadiq e Nura dallo Spezia" (in Italian). gazzettaregionale.it. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  8. "Sadiq reveals joy after breaking Serie A duck". asroma.com. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  9. "Chievo 3–3 Roma: 9 facts and figures". asroma.com. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  10. "Nura and Sadiq join Roma on permanent basis". asroma.com. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  11. "Penalty kicks help Paris Saint-Germain beat AS Roma in Comerica Park soccer match". freep.com. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  12. "Sadiq completes move to Bologna". asroma.com. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  13. "Striker Sadiq joins Torino". asroma.com. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  14. "Sadiq al Toro" (in Italian). torinofc.it. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  15. "NAC huurt Sadiq Umar van AS Roma" (in Dutch). nac.nl. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  16. "Rangers: Lassana Coulibaly & Sadiq Umar join Steven Gerrard's team". bbc.com. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  17. "Steven Gerrard keen to add quality up front as he prepares for Ovie Ejaria to follow Umar Sadiq out of Rangers". thenational.scot. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  18. "Benvenuto Sadiq!" (in Italian). acperugiacalcio.com. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  19. "Umar Sadik: Ja sam Partizan VIDEO" (in Serbian). b92.net. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  20. "Partizan (SRB) 3-1 Yeni Malatyaspor (TUR)". uefa.com. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  21. "Umar Sadiq's fancy footwork will strengthen Almería's attack". UD Almería. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  22. "John Mikel Obi named in Nigeria's Olympic squad". bbc.com. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  23. "Sadiq fires Nigeria to Olympic bronze medal". asroma.com. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  24. Umar Sadiq at Soccerway
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