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By Johnny Edward.
Real Sociedad coach, Imanol Alguacil, has backed Sadiq Umar to return for pre-season a better player following his long injury layoff, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Umar is yet to play for Real Sociedad since September 2022 as he only recently returned to training following an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained during a La Liga clash against Getafe.
The 26-year-old striker, who had a great start to his career at Real Sociedad, scoring a crucial goal against Atletico Madrid on his debut, has missed 43 games following the injury.
“Sadiq is very far away,” Alguacil told Mundo Deportivo. “But we are putting him in, but he is very far away.
“Hopefully everything goes well and he does a good job during the off-season because, unfortunately, he won’t be able to stop much.
“He has to get his acts together to have a very good pre-season. We want him to evolve well so that he can be available for the start of next season.”
Sadiq joined the Basque club from Almeria for a fee of €20m with another potential €5m in add-ons.
Last season, Sadiq made 36 Segunda Division appearances for Almeria, scoring 18 goals and providing nine assists.
In all competitions, he made 79 appearances in total, scoring 40 goals and providing 13 assists.