It has been a dismal start to the campaign for Valencia CF. They sacked their manager Rubén Baraja a few weeks back after their woeful form, and they currently sit 19th in the LaLiga table, five points above the drop. As they look to avoid suffering just the second relegation in their entire history, Valencia have signed Umar Sadiq on loan from Real Sociedad, who will be looking to find the regular minutes that have evaded him at La Real.

Since spending €20 million for the Nigerian center forward from Almería in the 2022/2023 season, the player has never reached the form he showed at the Andalusian club where he scored 18 goals and gave 12 assists in 36 matches in the second division. In this article, we will be investigating Umar Sadiq and how he can improve Valencia’s squad.

Due to his limited game time this season with under 250 minutes, and his poor form at Real Sociedad as well as limited game time in his stay there, data will be taken from last season at Almería in the second division to perform accurate data analysis.

Name: Umar Sadiq

Position: Center Forward

Country: Nigeria

Age: 27

Height: 191cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Context: Sadiq began his career at Spezia in Italy where he shined in the youth levels and signed for Roma, first on loan and later on a permanent transfer for €2.5 million. At Roma, he went on a series of loan spells to Bologna, Torino, NAC Breda, Rangers, Perugia, and Partizan Belgrade. 

The Serbian club would end up paying €2.5 million for his services, and here he lasted one year before being signed by Almería in the Spanish second division for €5 million. Two years later, Real Sociedad would splash €20 million on him after the sale of Isak, and there he has played for the last two seasons.

Goals + Assists

Strikers are often counted upon to get high numbers in goals, not so much in assists. Nonetheless, it is also an important aspect to take into account and can tell us the profile of the striker.

In this image, we can observe that Sadiq has the ability to get into goal-scoring positions with an xG of close to 0.45 per 90 which means he should be scoring a goal almost every 2 matches. In addition, he then is able to convert goals into chances with more than 0.5 goals per 90, having scored 18 goals this season in the league.

In the video footage, we can see that Sadiq’s ability to get into goal-scoring positions is remarkable, showing a hunger to score a goal that is hard to find. In this situation, he plays a one-two to get in behind the defense, then he cuts inside and finishes with excellence.

Here, we can identify that Sadiq is also capable of generating goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates with more than 0.1 xA per 90 which for a center forward is quite high. However, truth be said he has been overperforming his expected assist tally with more than 0.2 assists per 90 and 12 in total. 

Dribbling

How many dribbles a center forward attempts and completes can tell us his profile as it means that he is more agile and looks to carry out these actions.

This scatter plot shows us that Sadiq is not a target man as he has the confidence to dribble past opponents with more than 6 dribbles per 90. However, his precision is lower than 50% which shows that this aspect of his game is not the most reliable, nonetheless, this facet can be substantially improved and be used to his team’s benefit.

In the video footage, we can observe that he is a player who likes to drop to the wing at times to receive the ball, though his dribbling hasn’t been as often as the data suggests, as he usually passes it backward. 

Nonetheless, it is also fair to say that the times he has received the ball on the wing he has been outnumbered, and because he has been out for a few seasons, he may lack the confidence to take on many players. However, most of the times when he has attempted to dribble the ball it has been with space in front of him, because in small spaces, he doesn’t tend to carry the ball.

Passing

How many passes a center forward attempts tells us if he drops to support and help in the build-up. In addition, this can tell us if he is a target man or if he gets involved in the play.

This chart tells us that Sadiq is not a possession-based player, being below the average for quantity of passes per 90 and their precision. This tells us that he does not have the profile that drops deep to help his team in possession, but rather perhaps he likes to run into the channels seeing the amount of dribbles he attempts per 90.

His ability to receive the ball with his back to the goal and play first time is very poor as his first touch has much to improve, especially in tight spaces. Nonetheless, with more space, he can take a bad touch and still keep the ball as he doesn’t have many players around him.

Aerial Duels

For center forwards, it is important to be able to win aerial duels as when needed, their team will probably play in long and they are counted upon to win those duels to be able to attack at the defense.

Thanks to this image, we can identify that Sadiq’s ability to win aerial duels is quite poor considering his high stature of 191cm. This evidences the theory mentioned previously where he is a center forward who likes to run the channels rather than stay in the middle between the center backs.

Overall

This chart compares Umar Sadiq with the rest of the second division players in the 21/22 season in his position using percentiles in different aspects of the game. The percentiles work in the way that whatever the number, he is better than that percentage of players. If it is 70, he is better than 70%.

In this chart, we can observe that Sadiq’s offensive numbers are outstanding in both xG and xA, in addition, he doesn’t fall off in shot-creating actions being in the 78th percentile. This tells us that he is a decisive player for his club and was essential to their promotion to Spain’s top flight that season.

Furthermore, we can see that he is below the average for passes attempted confirming what was said before of his poor possession attributes. Nonetheless, we can also see that he is in the 85th percentile for progressive carries and in the 94th percentile for take-ons completed, showing his ability on the ball. Moreover, he is in the 99th percentile for progressive passes received which tells us that his positioning and runs into space are the best in the league and provide an outlet for his team.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Umar Sadiq is a center forward who is able to get into goal-scoring positions with ease and then has the ability to score goals, and also provide chances for his teammates. Nonetheless, there are other parts of his game that remain very lackluster. 

For instance, his first touch is very poor, and his overall technical ability is quite poor, but he makes up for this with his speed and determination. Nonetheless, it is certainly one of the reasons why his time at Real Sociedad has not been as expected. In addition, despite his height, he is not a menace in the air and is an aspect of his game that he can improve as his stature allows it.

If Valencia can maximize his strengths by making him run into space and make opportunities for him, there is no doubt he could be an asset to their squad and help them avoid relegation.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Quality Sport Images – Getty Images