Real Sociedad striker Umar Sadiq is currently recovering from rupturing his ACL in September. In an interview with the ‘Hindsight Podcast‘, he discussed his tough start to life in San Sebastián. “I came here and after a week I got injured. I still didn’t know the names of all the players, so I knew the names of the physios before the players. It sounds funny, but it was hard, one of the hardest things for me,” he said in words transcribed by AS.
He admits that what has surprised him most about his time recovering from his knee injury is the closeness with which he is being treated at the Basque club. “Everyone is being very good to me, so much so that they talk to me as if I’ve been here for 10 years. I want to have the opportunity to thank them for their trust in me and for that I hope to come back stronger if possible”.
But he doesn’t want to give a date for his return to action. “I’ve been working in the gym for seven months. To be honest, it’s not an easy situation to accept being in the same routine for so long, but I had to do it to come back stronger. I’m still on the fringes of the team, the recovery time is usually between seven and nine months, but I can’t say when I’ll be back”.
On replacing Isak
The striker signed from Almería on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2022, with La Real paying €20m plus add-ons in order to secure the services of the 26-year-old.
When asked about replacing current Newcastle forward Alexander Isak, he said: “The way people see football from the outside is different to the way we see it from the inside. I don’t see it as a replacement or as a big money transfer that gives me a lot of pressure, I see it as a normal transfer so that I help the team by giving my best.”
Kieran Quaile | GSFN
