Nigerian striker, Sadiq Umar, returned to action on Saturday in a La Liga game between Real Sociedad and Girona after 11 months of injury layoff.
The striker came in as a second-half substitute as the White and Blues played a 1-1 draw against the Catalans in their first game of the 2023/24 season.
Umar suffered a cruciate ligament injury in September 2022 and was taken off the field during a La Liga clash against Getafe
The 26-year-old later underwent surgery and was forced to miss the remainder of the season.
The Super Eagles forward started the season in fine form, scoring three goals in five matches with a debut goal for the Txuri-Urdinak against Atletico Madrid, before suffering the injury.
After eight months out, the former Almeria striker returned to training in May but could not feature in what was left of the season while also out on his team’s tour to the United States.
Umar’s Appraisal
Speaking ahead of the Girona clash, Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil promised that Umar would get some minutes as he expect to see the best of the striker.
“I expect to see the best version of Sadiq. It’s a shame he could not go on the USA tour because I would have liked him to have had more minutes as he was having a very good preseason,” Alguacil said per Mundo Deportivo.
“He’s going to get more playing time for sure. Just because he didn’t go on tour doesn’t mean that I’m not going to start playing him.”
The manager kept to his word and brought the Nigerian on for Mikel Oyarzabal in the 74th minute.
Sadiq joined the Reale Arena outfit last summer in a deal worth €26m plus-add-ons and a 15 per cent sell-on clause until the 2027/28 season, having helped Almeria secure promotion to the Spanish topflight, where he registered 18 goals and nine assists in 38 appearances.
Credit: punchng.com
