Sports

Athletico Club Signs Nigeria Striker Umar On Six Years Deal

Athletico Bilbao in an official statement on their official website on Thursday announced the deadline day signing of Super Eagles striker Sadiq Umar on a six-year contract until 2028.

Umar joins the Basque side as a replacement for Aleksander Isak who has moved to Newcastle United.

The former UD Almeria striker drew attention foem another La Liga side Villarreal who were keen to replace Dutch forward of Nigerian descent Arnaud Danjuma.

Two-time Spanish champions Real Sociedad are also without injured Inaki Williams for some substantial period of time after the striker sustained an injury and set to miss some weeks without football after playing for six straight years without ever being substituted or injured.

The 25-year-old Umar during his stint at Almeria made 84 appearances, contributing to 62 goals (43 goals and 19 assists).

He scored 18 goals and provided 12 assists in 36 La Liga Smart Bank games which helped in the team’s promotion to the top flight from La Liga Smartbank (2nd division in Spain).

Izuchukwu Okosi

Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc. In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio. He worked there for 13 years until October 2017. Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch. He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations. Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line. Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.