Umar Sadiq, a Super Eagles and Real Sociedad striker, has had a successful knee operation, his club announced on Thursday.
The operation to repair the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee was performed by Dr Mikel Sanchez in Gasteiz. He will remain in the hospital until Friday or Saturday depending on his evolution.
Sadiq who joined Real Sociedad from another Spanish La Liga side, UD Almeria for a club record 20 million Euros, plus six million in potential add-ons on transfer deadline day injured his knee against Getafe in a Spanish La Liga match-day 5 clash on September 11.
His unfortunate injury which will likely keep him out of action for the rest of the season because of a lengthy post-surgery recovery time (8 to 12 months) has led to an outpouring of support from the football family with messages of encouragement on social media.
The 25-year-old bought to replace Alexander Isak following his own record transfer to Newcastle United made a scoring debut for Sociedad on September 3, bagging the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid after coming off the bench in the second half less than 48 hours after his move from Almeria where he had scored two goals in three games to start the season.
He made his first start for Sociedad as they stunned Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in their group e opening match of the UEFA Europa League on September 8, before sustaining the injury that will now see him miss out on the Super Eagles squad for the international friendly against Algeria on September 27.
Sodiq will also miss the prestige friendly against Portugal at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon on Thursday, November 17.
The striker joined UD Almeria in the Segunda division on October 5th, 2020 for nine million Euros from Partizan Belgrade and helped them gain promotion last season, scoring 18 goals and providing 12 assists in 36 league games. Overall, he recorded 43 goals and 19 assists in 84 games across all competitions for Almeria.
While playing for Partizan in the Super Liga Srbije, he scored 23 goals and provided 19 assists in 52 games. He joined them initially on loan on July 2nd, 2019 from Italian Serie A side, A.S Roma before making the move permanent on January 30th, 2020 for two million Euros.
Sadiq started his career with Abuja college before moving to Spezia youth in 2013 and then graduating to their U-19 side a year later. His performances for Spezia caught the eyes of Roma scouts which led to a loan move to Rome in 2015 before a permanent transfer in 2016.
Sadiq also had several loan spells at Serie A sides, Bologna and Torino, NAC Breda in the Dutch Eredivisie, Scottish Giants, Rangers as well as Perugia in the Italian Serie B.
At international level, Sadiq played for Nigeria’s under 23 national team at the Rio 2016 Olympics, helping the country clinch bronze before stepping up to the Super Eagles at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon in January. He scored against Guinea-Bissau in the last group stage game.
SEE PHOTO AND POST:
? Sadiq underwent surgery this morning. The operation was successfully carried out with no issues. He will remain in the hospital until Friday or Saturday, depending on his evolution. #AurreraReala pic.twitter.com/yD3G9dni6k
— Real Sociedad ?? ?? (@RealSociedadEN) September 15, 2022
? Esto es amor a primera vista ?
?? ¡Muchas gracias por todos los mensajes de ánimo!#AurreraReala | #StrongEagle pic.twitter.com/a29xUwRdxW
— Real Sociedad Fútbol (@RealSociedad) September 13, 2022
We wish Sadiq a quick recovery ? #soarsupereagles pic.twitter.com/Qv0zUPN7fk
— ?? Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) September 13, 2022
