Umar Sadiq

Not to be confused with Omar Sadik.

Umar Sadiq

Sadiq with Nigeria at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Umar Sadiq Mesbah
Date of birth	(1997-02-02) 2 February 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Valencia (on loan from Real Sociedad)
Number	12
Youth career
	Kuso Boys
	Future of Africa
	Football College Abuja
2014–2015	Spezia
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)	24	(12)
2020	Partizan	10	(6)
2020–2022	Almería	79	(40)
2022–	Real Sociedad	35	(4)
2025–	→ Valencia (loan)	1	(0)
International career‡
2016	Nigeria U23	6	(4)
2022–	Nigeria	12	(1)
Medal record Olympic Games 2016
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 January 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024

Umar Sadiq Mesbah (born 2 February 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia, on loan from Real Sociedad, and the Nigeria national team.

Sadiq formerly represented 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] Sadiq played his first Eternal derby on 22 September in a 2–0 win over bitter rivals Red Star. Sadiq spent 64 minutes on the field when he was replaced by Seydouba Soumah. ^[21] 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. ^[22]

Almería

On 5 October 2020, Sadiq joined Spanish Segunda División side UD Almería on a five-year contract. ^[23]

Real Sociedad

On 1 September 2022, Sadiq signed a contract with Real Sociedad until the end of the 2027–28 season. ^[24] Only two days later Sadiq scored first goal on his debut in a 1–1 home draw against Atlético Madrid. ^[25] On 8 September, Sadiq played 46 minutes at Old Trafford in a 0–1 victory over Manchester United. ^[26] Three days later during Real Sociedad's La Liga fixture against Getafe Sadiq suffered Anterior cruciate ligament injury and was later ruled out of the season after undergoing surgery. ^[27]

At the start of the 2023–24 La Liga campaign, Sadiq returned to the pitch as Real Sociedad held Girona to a 1–1 draw. The Nigerian international came on as a substitute for Mikel Oyarzabal in the 74th minute. ^[28] Sadiq came off the bench in the 72nd minute for Mikel Oyarzabal against Inter Milan, on his UEFA Champions League debut. ^[29] On 26 November 2023, Sadiq scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 win over Sevilla. In the 22nd minute, the Nigerian received the ball from Hamari Traoré in the middle of the pitch and went past two Sevilla players before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner from outside of the box. ^[30] Less than a week after ending a goal drought that lasted for 449 days, Umar Sadiq stole the headlines again after scoring another spectacular goal for Real Sociedad in their La Liga meeting with CA Osasuna at the Estadio El Sadar (Pamplona) on Saturday night. ^[31]

Loan to Valencia

On January 4, 2025, Valencia announced that they had reached an agreement with Real Sociedad to sign Sadiq on loan until June 30, 2025. ^[32]

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. ^[33] 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. ^[34]

After two successful seasons at Partizan and a move to the rising Almería, Sadiq received a call-up to the Nigerian national team for the 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin and Lesotho on 27 and 30 March 2021 respectively. ^[35]

On 29 December 2023, Sadiq was named in the Nigerian squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. ^[36] However, he sustained an injury in early January 2024 and was replaced by Paul Onuachu. ^[37]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2025 ^[38]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		League cup [b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spezia	2013–14	Serie B	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	2014–15	Serie B	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	2015–16	Serie B	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
Lavagnese (loan)	2013–14	Serie D	1	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	1	0
Roma (loan)	2015–16	Serie A	6	2	0	0	—		0	0	—		6	2
Roma	2016–17	Serie A	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	2017–18	Serie A	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	2018–19	Serie A	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	2019–20	Serie A	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	Total		6	2	0	0	—		0	0	—		6	2
Bologna (loan)	2016–17	Serie A	7	0	0	0	—		—		—		7	0
Torino (loan)	2017–18	Serie A	3	0	0	0	—		—		—		3	0
NAC Breda (loan)	2017–18	Eredivisie	12	5	0	0	—		—		—		12	5
Rangers (loan)	2018–19	Scottish Premiership	1	0	0	0	2	0	1 [c]	0	—		4	0
Perugia (loan)	2018–19	Serie B	17	3	0	0	—		—		1 [d]	0	18	3
Partizan (loan)	2019–20	Serbian SuperLiga	24	12	3	0	—		12 [c]	5	—		39	17
Partizan	2020–21	Serbian SuperLiga	10	6	0	0	—		3 [c]	0	—		13	6
	Total		34	18	3	0	—		16	5	—		52	23
Almería	2020–21	Segunda División	40	20	3	2	—		—		—		43	22
	2021–22	Segunda División	36	18	2	1	—		—		—		38	19
	2022–23	La Liga	3	2	—		—		—		—		3	2
	Total		79	40	5	3	—		—		—		84	43
Real Sociedad	2022–23	La Liga	2	1	0	0	—		1 [c]	0	—		3	1
	2023–24	La Liga	26	3	6	0	—		4 [e]	0	—		36	3
	2024–25	La Liga	7	0	1	0	—		3 [c]	0	—		11	0
	Total		35	4	7	0	—		8	0	—		50	4
Valencia (loan)	2024–25	La Liga	1	0	2	1	—		—		—		3	1
Career total			196	72	17	4	2	0	24	5	1	0	240	81

1. Includes Serbian Cup, Copa del Rey
2. Includes Scottish League Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in Serie B promotion play-offs
5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 18 November 2024 ^[39]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2022	7	1
	2023	3	0
	2024	2	0
Total		12	1

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sadiq goal.

List of international goals scored by Umar Sadiq

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	19 January 2022	Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua, Cameroon	Guinea-Bissau	1–0	2–0	2021 Africa Cup Of Nations

Honours

Roma Primavera

• Campionato Nazionale Primavera: 2015–16 ^[38]

Almería

• Segunda División: 2021–22

Nigeria U23

• Olympic Games bronze medal: 2016 ^[34]

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. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. 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. "PARTIZAN VS. RED STAR 2 - 0". Soccerway.com. 22 September 2019.
22. "PARTIZAN VS. JAVOR 6 - 2". Soccerway.com. 22 November 2019.
23. "Umar Sadiq's fancy footwork will strengthen Almería's attack". UD Almería. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
24. "La Real signs Sadiq Umar". Real Sociedad. 1 September 2022.
25. "REAL SOCIEDAD VS. ATLETICO MADRID". Soccerway.com. 3 September 2022.
26. "MANCHESTER UNITED VS. REAL SOCIEDAD". Soccerway.com. 8 September 2022.
27. "GETAFE VS. REAL SOCIEDAD". Soccerway.com. 11 September 2022.
28. "REAL SOCIEDAD VS. GIRONA 1 - 1". Soccerway.com. 12 August 2023.
29. "REAL SOCIEDAD VS. INTER MILAN 1 - 1". Soccerway.com. 20 September 2023.
30. "REAL SOCIEDAD VS. SEVILLA 2 - 1". Soccerway.com. 26 November 2023.
31. "OSASUNA VS. REAL SOCIEDAD 1 - 1". Soccerway.com. 2 December 2023.
32. "OFFICIAL STATEMENT | SADIQ UMAR". Valencia CF. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
33. "John Mikel Obi named in Nigeria's Olympic squad". bbc.com. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
34. "Sadiq fires Nigeria to Olympic bronze medal". asroma.com. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
35. "OFFICIAL: Osimhen back for Super Eagles, Enyimba goalkeeper Noble, Sadiq Umar in". Score Nigeria. 9 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
36. Olu Ibidapo, Ayodele (29 December 2023). "Peseiro names 25 players as Super Eagles seek fourth AFCON title in Cote d'Ivoire". Nigeria Football Federation . Retrieved 30 December 2023.
37. "AFCON 2023: Paul Onuachu replaces injured Umar Sadiq in Nigeria's team". The Guardian Nigeria. 12 January 2024.
38. Umar Sadiq at Soccerway
39. Umar Sadiq at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Profile at the Real Sociedad website
• Umar Sadiq at Soccerbase
• Umar Sadiq at WorldFootball.net
• Umar Sadiq – UEFA competition record ( archive )