Sadiq Umar ‘Jololo’ proved this past season that he can score goals at a higher level when he fired 20 goals and made seven assists in the Spanish Segunda Division after his departure from Serbian club FK Partizan.
The 24-year-old striker scored 28 goals in all competitions last term – 20 in LaLiga2, 6 in Serbian league and two in Copa del Rey.
He was named LaLiga2 Player of the Month for January 2021.
Unfortunately, his ambitious club UD Almeria still failed to stage a return to La Liga after they capitulated in the playoffs.
Sadiq was gutted to miss out on playing in La Liga next season.
“I scored 28 goals – six with my former club before I joined Almeria, where I scored two goals in cup games and 20 goals in the league – but I would have been happier had my goals helped my team to be promoted to La Liga,” he lamented.
“To me the goals do not really count, but the promotion was the main target of the club as it should have been a collective responsibility to promote the team to the elite league.
“The team have invested so much and we should have paid back with promotion.”
He added: “We tried our best, but our best was not good enough in the play off, we should have obviously done better but it’s a thing of the past now which makes me feel bad.
“It’s one of the things you cannot change, so you should not get too worried about it.”
He signed a contract till June 2025 and Almeria have placed a staggering 60 Million Euros price tag on his head, four times his transfer market value.
Despite the massive price tag, speculations have persisted over his future following interest from Sevilla and Valencia in La Liga as well as in Germany and England.
Almeria have reportedly turned down a 16 Million Euros bid by another Spanish club, Getafe.
His goals have also not gone unnoticed by Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, who called him up for recent 2021 AFCON qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho.
However, travel restrictions caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic meant his Spanish club blocked him from a long-awaited full international debut.
The Nigeria U23 international will most certainly get a second chance to compete with the likes of Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho and Paul Onuachu in the Super Eagles strike force.
