{"id":841559,"date":"2025-04-17T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/umar-sadiq-nigeria-and-valencia-star-blames-two-factors-for-real-sociedad-struggles\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T13:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:12:00","slug":"umar-sadiq-nigeria-and-valencia-star-blames-two-factors-for-real-sociedad-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/umar-sadiq-nigeria-and-valencia-star-blames-two-factors-for-real-sociedad-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Umar Sadiq: Nigeria and Valencia star blames two factors for Real Sociedad struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Nigeria international <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/?s=Umar+Sadiq\">Umar Sadiq<\/a> has opened up on the challenges he faced during a difficult spell at Real Sociedad, pinpointing injury and limited playing time as the main reasons for his struggles, <a href=\"https:\/\/Soccernet.ng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/?s=Super+eagles\">Super Eagles<\/a> striker moved to Sociedad in the summer of 2022 in a \u20ac20 million deal from Almeria, where he had scored 43 goals and registered 13 assists in just 84 appearances, playing a pivotal role in their promotion to La Liga.<\/p>\n<p>Sadiq made an immediate impact at his new club, scoring on his debut against <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/?s=Atletico\">Atletico Madrid<\/a> and catching the eye in a Europa League win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_155816\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-155816\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/04\/imago1059491229-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Nigeria and Valencia star Umar Sadiq.\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-155816\">Nigeria and Valencia star Umar Sadiq. Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, his promising start was cut short just days into his Sociedad career when he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during a league match against Getafe, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2022\/23 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Upon his return, Sadiq struggled to regain his place, managing just three goals in 36 appearances across all competitions in the following season.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_152200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-152200\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/imago1059474724-1-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Nigeria and Valencia CF star Umar Sadiq.\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-152200\">Nigeria and Valencia CF star Umar Sadiq. Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With Sociedad keen to see more from their high-profile signing and goals proving hard to come by, the club opted to loan him to <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/?s=Valencia\">Valencia<\/a> in January after he failed to score in seven La Liga appearances this term.<\/p>\n<p>Since his move to the Mestalla, the 27-year-old has rediscovered his form, scoring four goals in 11 league matches and playing a key role in helping Valencia steer clear of the relegation zone.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146449\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146449\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/imago1041817217-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Real Sociedad star Umar Sadiq on loan Valencia\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146449\">March 2, 2024, Seville, Spain: SEVILLE, SPAIN \u2013 MARCH 02: Umar Sadiq of Real Sociedad in action during the La Liga EA Sports match between Sevilla FC and Real Sociedad at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on March 02, 2024 in Seville, Spain. Seville Spain. Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>READ MORE\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/04\/real-madrid-valencias-umar-sadiq.html\">Extremely dangerous\u2019 \u2013 Ex-Real Madrid captain left fuming as Valencia\u2019s Umar Sadiq escapes red card<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/04\/nigerias-umar-sadiq-real-madrid.html\">Nigeria\u2019s Umar Sadiq earns first win over Real Madrid as Valencia seal stunning Bernab\u00e9u victory<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/03\/umar-sadiq-valencia-super-eagles.html\">Umar Sadiq: Valencia plot clever deal to sign Super Eagles striker permanently from Real Sociedad<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Soccer What Umar Sadiq said?<\/h2>\n<p>Reflecting on his struggles at Sociedad, Sadiq told <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/4SOrO-tZ3Cw?si=2EHtLKeFvuT9LB6G\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TVC News<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cFrom the first day I went to Real Sociedad, I went there with a lot of expectations. Unfortunately, I went there and after five days I tore my ACL and things changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was out for one season and I came back and I could not get that continuity that I need because I was left behind. Also it was the coach\u2019s decision which I respected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes, you find yourself in situations where you cannot change anything. And my situation at Real Sociedad was that: I could not change anything. Because of lack of playing time after coming back from injury. I had to face the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery footballer needs continuity which I did not have when I came back from my injury at Real Sociedad. And you can see that as I came here, week in, week out I\u2019m playing. I\u2019m gaining my confidence and that\u2019s all what I needed. As a football player, continuity (is key). You have more calm and you have more time to show what you have.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sadiq hasn\u2019t scored since his brace against Real Valladolid on March 8 but remains an important figure in Ruben Baraja\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<p>He featured in recent matches against Girona, Mallorca, Real Madrid, and Sevilla, helping Valencia secure three wins and a draw, including a famous 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_155819\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-155819\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/04\/imago1060643408-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Nigeria and Valencia star Umar Sadiq.\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-155819\">Nigeria and Valencia star Umar Sadiq (R). Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The striker will be aiming to return to the scoresheet when Valencia travel to face Rayo Vallecano on April 19.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Soccer Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DSC_0327-copy-150x150.jpg\"  height=\"80\" width=\"80\">\t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/author\/imhonlamhen-eronmhonsele\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen Eronmhonsele\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen Eronmhonsele turns into a ball of passion when writing about Nigerian football and its talents, whether rising stars or established legends, locally and abroad.<\/p>\n<p>From the deepest corners of the Middle East, to the green fields of the Americas, to the celebrated grounds in Europe, and the rich soils of Africa, Imhons is more than glad, usually with a glass of a tasty drink nearby, to capture the essence of the game, by connecting the dots between culture, identity, and football.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/04\/umar-sadiq-nigeria-valencia.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Nigeria international Umar Sadiq has opened up on the challenges he faced during a difficult spell at Real Sociedad, pinpointing injury and limited playing time as the main reasons for his struggles, Soccernet.ng reports. The Super Eagles striker moved to Sociedad in the summer of 2022 in a \u20ac20 million deal from Almeria, where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":841560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27096,92197,2005],"tags":[15956,92196],"class_list":{"0":"post-841559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigeria","8":"category-sadiq","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-nigeria","11":"tag-sadiq"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}