Former Real Madrid forward Hugo Duro has praised Super Eagles striker Sadiq Umar following his strong performances for Valencia in recent weeks.
Sadiq joined Valencia from Real Sociedad in a permanent deal during the January transfer window. After a slow start at the club, the Nigerian striker has begun to show his quality at the Mestalla Stadium.
At first, competition for places in the attack limited his playing time. However, his situation improved after mid-February when he started getting more minutes on the pitch.
His breakthrough came when he scored an important goal in Valencia’s 2–0 victory over Levante. Since then, the striker has continued to impress with his performances.
In Valencia’s recent league match against Alaves, Sadiq delivered another strong display. The game was tense as both teams were fighting to move away from the relegation zone.
Alaves took the lead when Lucas Boye scored from the penalty spot. But Valencia responded strongly in the second half.
Just two minutes after the restart, Sadiq created the equaliser with a brilliant assist for Javi Guerra in the 47th minute.
Throughout the match, the Nigerian striker caused constant problems for the Alaves defence, forcing them to closely mark him to stop his attacking runs.
Valencia later completed the comeback with late goals from Hugo Duro and Eray Comert to secure an important victory.
Despite seeing his own playing time reduced following Sadiq’s arrival, Duro praised the Nigerian striker and admitted that his current form makes him difficult to leave out of the team.
“I’m playing less, and rightly so. Sadiq is spectacular both with and without the ball,” Duro said.
“The match he played was tremendous. We all need to be ready because you never know when your moment will come. To be honest, I don’t know when Sadiq will stop looking like Pelé.”
Duro also stressed that the team’s success is more important than personal achievements.
“I’ll be there fighting to get back in, but it’s his time right now, and deservedly so. I’m loving it, and I’m here to help the team, just like everyone else,” he added.
Sadiq will now hope to maintain his good form and continue helping Valencia climb away from the relegation zone in the remaining matches of the season.
