Drogba 2.0? Star has 58 goals since leaving Rangers and now costs £50m

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In the last ten months, Umar Sadiq has been linked with Sevilla, Bayern Munich and, most recently, a £50 million move to Barcelona.

Regardless of the veracity of those reports, the fact that Sadiq is being mentioned in the same sentence as some of Europe’s biggest and most ambitious clubs shows how far he’s come since he tumbled to the Hampden Park turf in a desperate attempt to win a penalty during Rangers’ 1-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat in October 2018. 

That dismal dive is perhaps the most memorable moment of Sadiq’s oh-soforgettable six month stint at Ibrox. A stint that took in four appearances, no goals, a torn-up contract and a public rebuke by manager Steven Gerrard. 

The burly, 6ft 4ins centre-forward tends to stay on his feet when venturing into the penalty area these days. And no wonder.

With 32 goals and 15 assists in 66 games since joining Almeria in the summer of 2020, Sadiq no longer needs to resort to desperate play-acting. Just give him the ball and watch him wreak his unique brand of havoc. 

In fact, since leaving Rangers ahead of schedule in early 2019, he’s scored 58 goals in all competitions. That includes 28 across 2020/21 alone.

How has Umar Sadiq become so prolific after Rangers exit?

“It is a great honour to be compared to such important players,” Sadiq tells Marca after matching the tallies of Almeria legends Alvaro Negredo and Charles Dias.  

“For me, the most important thing of all is to continue improving and winning points with the team. In the end, the numbers will come by themselves.” 

A winger in his youth, Sadiq is very much a number nine these days. Physically imposing and an emphatic finisher from all angles.

At 25, and having put those nightmare six months in Scotland behind him, it feels like a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ Sadiq gets snapped up by a far bigger fish in a much larger pond. 

“When I changed position and started playing as a striker, I started noticing a lot of strikers. My favourites were (Didier) Drogba and (Emmanuel) Adebayor.”

Drogba was 26 when he got his big break, swapping Marseille for Chelsea in a deal worth £24 million. Who’s to say Sadiq won’t be celebrating a life-changing move of his own when he turns 26 too?