Umar Sadiq chooses between being top scorer and gaining La Liga promotion

Unlike compatriots Ramon Azeez and Kelechi Nwakali, whose sides are struggling in the Segunda division, the former Roma starlet is flying high with his team

Almeria star Umar Sadiq has set promotion to La Liga as his target for this season and not winning the award for the best striker in the Segunda Division.

Only two footballers, Espanyol’s Raul de Tomas (22 goals) and Gijon’s Durdevic (21) have scored more goals than Sadiq’s in the Spanish lower league in the 2020/21 season.

The Nigerian forward, who is in his maiden campaign with Almeria, has been a revelation in Spain, scoring 18 goals in 33 league matches.

The 24-year-old’s goals have been crucial to Almeria’s charge for promotion, with Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia’s men sitting third on the league table with an outside chance of gaining automatic promotion.

Either directly or through the playoffs, Almeria can ascend to La Liga, and Sadiq has vowed to help his side attain that target.

“Individually, I am satisfied with the number of goals I have achieved, but in reality, the most important thing for me, the primary objective is promotion to First Division,” the former Rangers man told iVoox.

“And we are going to fight for it even through the playoffs.”

Only four goals separate Sadiq from the league’s top goalscorer Raul de Tomas, and with five matches to go, the Pichichi award for top finisher is still within the read of the Super Eagles invitee.

Still, the former youth international insists that is not his primary objective.

“I do not continuously look at the Pichichi data. It would be good to achieve it but what I focus the most on is not so much on scoring but on the team doing it.

“I like to give assists and score points for the team. If I succeed and help the team reach its goal, I would be very happy with it.”

Sadiq’s form has seen him attract the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Bayern Munich.