Umar Sadiq Mesbah (born 2 February 1997) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, on loan from

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, 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 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Club career

Early years

Born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

, Sadiq started playing football on the streets of his hometown at an early age. He later played for local team Kusa Boys, before joining the Future of Africa Football Academy and finally the Football College Abuja. In June 2013, Sadiq traveled with FCA to Croatia and participated at the

Kvarnerska Rivijera Kvarnerska Rivijera is one of the oldest youth football tournaments in the world, first played in 1953. The tournament is organised by HNK Rijeka, a Croatian football club, and attracts clubs from across Europe and other continents. It is held eac ...

youth tournament. He finished as the competition's top scorer and helped his team become the champions.

Spezia

Following his promising performances in Croatia, Sadiq was acquired by Italian club

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

. 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.

Loan to Lavagnese

Shortly upon joining Spezia, Sadiq was loaned to

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

side Lavagnese, making his senior debut in the final round of the 2013–14 season.

Loan to Roma

In July 2015, Sadiq joined

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

on a one-year loan. He was transferred alongside his teammate and compatriot

Nura Abdullahi Nura Abdullahi (; born 17 August 1997) is a Nigerian former professional footballer. Club career He made his Serie B debut for Perugia on 3 February 2018 in a game against Cittadella Cittadella () is a medieval walled city in the province of P ...

for €250,000 each with a buyout clause of €1,250 million per player. Having bagged eight goals in his first three Primavera matches for Roma, Sadiq made his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut on 21 November, replacing

Juan Iturbe Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo (born 4 June 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Cerro Porteño. Born in Argentina, Iturbe represented the Paraguay national team in a friendly match in 2009. After the friendly, he declare ...

after 88 minutes in a 2–2 away draw against

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. He scored his first goal on 20 December, netting only seven minutes after coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right winger or Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., L ...

, helping his team to a 2–0 home win over

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. 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 Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

. 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. He traveled with the first team to the United States for the

2017 International Champions Cup The 2017 International Champions Cup (or ICC) was the fifth edition of a series of friendly association football matches, organized to simulate a tournament. It began on 18 July and ended on 30 July 2017. Teams ; China ; Singapore ; United ...

, scoring in his only appearance against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, as Roma lost after penalties.

Loan to Bologna

On 31 August 2016, Sadiq was sent on loan to

until the end of the season with a purchase option. He appeared in seven

games, before returning to Roma.

Loan to Torino

On 16 August 2017, it was announced that Sadiq would be joining

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on loan until 30 June 2018. The deal included an option to make the move permanent with a buyback clause in favour of Roma.

Loan to NAC Breda

In January 2018, Sadiq moved on a six-month loan to Dutch side

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

with an extension option. He helped the club narrowly avoid relegation, contributing with five goals in 12

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

appearances.

Loan to Rangers

In July 2018, Sadiq joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan. After just four first-team appearances in all competitions, his loan spell was terminated by the end of the year.

Loan to Perugia

In January 2019, Sadiq joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

for the remainder of the season. 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 Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

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. He made his official debut in a 1–0 away league win against

Inđija Inđija (, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Srem District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has total population of 24,450, while the municipality has 43,433 inhabitants. It is located in the geogr ...

on 21 July. On 4 August, Sadiq netted his first goal for the club in a 4–0 home league victory over

Mačva Šabac Mačva ( sr-Cyrl, Мачва, ; ) is a geographical and historical region in the northwest of Central Serbia, on a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is named after the r ...

. He subsequently scored the opener in an eventual 3–1 home win versus Turkish club

Yeni Malatyaspor Yeni Malatyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Malatya. The club plays in the TFF First League, which is the second tier of football in the country. History Founded in 1986 as Malatya Belediyespor. Its primary colo ...

in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round. Sadiq played his first Eternal derby on 22 September in a 2–0 win over bitter rivals

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

. Sadiq spent 64 minutes on the field when he was replaced by

Seydouba Soumah Seydouba Soumah (born 11 June 1991) is a Guinean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Club career Ajax Cape Town Born in Conakry, Guinea, Soumah began his football career playing on the streets, before moving to South A ...

. On 3 October, he netted a brace to give his team a 2–1 away victory against

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

in Europa League's Group L. He scored his first senior

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 6–2 home league win over

Javor Ivanjica FK Javor Ivanjica () is a professional football club based in Ivanjica, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian First League, the second tier of the national league system. History In 1912, a student named Milan Radojević brought the first football ...

on 22 November.

Almería

On 5 October 2020, Sadiq joined Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

on a five-year contract.

Real Sociedad

On 1 September 2022, Sadiq signed a contract with

until the end of the 2027–28 season. Only two days later Sadiq scored first goal on his debut in a 1–1 home draw against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. On 8 September, Sadiq played 46 minutes at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in a 0–1 victory over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Three days later, during Real Sociedad's La Liga fixture against

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

, Sadiq suffered an

Anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

and was later ruled out of the season after undergoing surgery. At the start of the

2023–24 La Liga The 2023–24 La Liga, also known as LaLiga EA Sports due to sponsorship reasons, was the 93rd season of La Liga, Spain's premier football competition. It commenced on 11 August 2023 and ended on 26 May 2024. Barcelona were the defending champio ...

campaign, Sadiq returned to the pitch as Real Sociedad held

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

to a 1–1 draw. The Nigerian international came on as a substitute for

Mikel Oyarzabal Mikel Oyarzabal Ugarte (born 21 April 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for La Liga club Real Sociedad, whom he captains, and the Spain national team. He has spent his entire professional career ...

in the 74th minute. Sadiq came off the bench in the 72nd minute, again replacing Oyarzabal, against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

for his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut. On 26 November 2023, Sadiq scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 win over

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

Loan to Valencia

On 4 January 2025,

announced that they had reached an agreement with

to sign Sadiq on loan until 30 June 2025.

International career

In July 2016, Sadiq was named in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

's final 18-man squad for the

. 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 Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. 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 Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

and

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

on 27 and 30 March 2021 respectively. On 29 December 2023, Sadiq was named in the Nigerian squad for the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

in Ivory Coast. However, he sustained an injury in early January 2024 and was replaced by

Paul Onuachu Ebere Paul Onuachu (born 28 May 1994) is a Nigerian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Southampton F.C., Southampton and the Nigeria national football team, Nigeria n ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Roma Primavera *

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in the 1 ...

: 2015–16 Almería *

: 2021–22 Nigeria U23 *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

bronze medal:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual * La Liga Goal of the Month: March 2025

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Sociedad website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadiq, Umar Living people 1997 births Footballers from Kaduna Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Nigeria men's international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Nigeria Olympic footballers for Nigeria Olympic medalists in football Serie A players Serie B players Serie D players Eredivisie players Scottish Professional Football League players Serbian SuperLiga players La Liga players Segunda División players Spezia Calcio players USD Lavagnese 1919 players AS Roma players Bologna FC 1909 players Torino FC players NAC Breda players Rangers F.C. players AC Perugia Calcio players FK Partizan players UD Almería players Real Sociedad footballers Valencia CF players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen