Rangers FC have officially confirmed a loan agreement with AS Roma for the services of Umar Sadiq. Speaking to Rangers TV, the 21-year-old said, “It is very good to be here, it has been good so far and I can’t wait to start. I truly am excited to be joining Rangers, it is a historical club and I can’t wait to play here.”
“I found out Rangers were interested in me about a month ago when I was on holiday in Nigeria. I got a phone call from my agent and he told me about Rangers and I said let’s see what happens. He told me about the players and said everybody would be at my side if I came here to help me and he would also help me to go forward in my career.”
Sadiq was lent out to NAC Breda last term but the Dutch outfit did not activate their buy-back clause after the completion of the 2017/18 season. The striker was hardly considered in the Roma first team but was a cemented starter in the Eredivisie. He fired on all cylinders on his arrival to Breda and ended up scoring 5 goals in 12 league appearances.
Unfortunately for Sadiq, he only has 6 senior team games under his belt for Roma during his 18-month stay at the Stadio Olimpico. With the likes of Edin Dzeko, Patrik Schick and Gregoire Defrel already in the squad, it would always have been difficult to hope for anything more than a sporadic role.
Rangers are offering Sadiq a brilliant proposition to prove his worth in the Scottish Premiership. The centre-forward has 6 caps and 4 goals for the Nigeria U23 side and also helped his country to the Bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Steven Gerrard has already told Eduardo Herrera to find himself a new club for the upcoming season and Kenny Miller was previously relieved of his duties (currently appointed as manager of Livingston). With Jason Cummings also returning to Nottingham Forest after the completion of his loan spell, the new Ibrox boss has desperately been searching for a strike partner to Alfredo Morelos.
Sadiq has a scoring bone in his body which just needs the right environment to thrive in. He managed 23 goals in 32 senior games for Spezia Primavera, the reserve team of Spezia Calcio.
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Standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall, Sadiq could be the one to add a different dynamic to the Gers attack and give Gerrard more options to work with.
