Former Rangers star Umar Sadiq looks finally set to complete a £20m move to Real Sociedad as the La Liga giants reinvest some of the millions they made selling Alexander Isak to Newcastle Utd.
The Nigerian international forward has been a revelation with Spanish outfit Almeria and his 18 goals and 12 assists helped first the club to Liga Segunda promotion last season.
Starting this season’s Spanish top flight campaign just as he finished the last – with two goals in Almeria’s opening three games including last weekend’s winner v Sevilla – it now looks like the ex-AS Roma star is set to earn a big money move up the division.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Real Sociedad are pushing to get a deal for Umar Sadiq done before the transfer window’s deadline this week.
Romano believes the deal is nearing completion with Real Sociedad preparing to pay around £20m in total with a 15% sell-on fee also included.
Romano claims Umar Sadiq will be the replacement for Newcastle Utd striker
This comes after talks with La Liga side Villarreal collapsed earlier in the window and Almeria’s CEO had intimated the player would likely be sold in this window.
“Umar Sadiq has not travelled to England to avoid any type of injury that could stop a transfer that is close at this time,” said Mohamed El Assy [Football Espana].
“He will be sold for a little less than €30m. We have 12-13 other players that have received offers, they are players who have a prestige in the market and you hope that they have a great future.”
It is a quite remarkable turnaround from the player who spent six months at Rangers in 2018 with Umar Sadiq suffering an ill-fated spell under Steven Gerrard.
The Nigerian international striker barely made it to Christmas before being bombed out of the side but it clearly has done little to dampen his progress as a player.
After returning to Italy and spending time on loan in Serie B, a stint with Partizan Belgrade ignited his career and now it looks like his resultant spell in Almeria will earn him a big money move to Real Sociedad.
The Spanish outfit have cashto burn after reportedly selling Alexander Isak to Premier League Newcastle United for £63m [Sky Sports].
Meanwhile, a leading Rangers club insider has dropped a major hint regarding the future fee attached to a loanee taking Ibrox by storm.
