Umar Sadiq: Nigerian set to miss most of season with knee injury

Sadiq suffered the injury in the first half of Real Sociedad's clash with Getafe on Sunday

Real Sociedad's Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in only his third match with the Spanish club.

The 25-year-old was unable to have a scan directly after being forced off in the 38th minute of Sunday's 2-1 league defeat at Getafe.

However tests have confirmed the severity of an injury that will now need surgery.

While no timescale has been given, the Super Eagle is likely to miss most, if not possibly, all of the season.

"He's mentally shattered by the injury but trying to stay positive this morning," a family member has told BBC Sport.

They said although Sadiq's attitude ahead of surgery is positive, the long road to recovery is bothering him, especially since this is the first serious injury of his career and no easy one given it is his ACL.

Sadiq, who has seven caps and one goal for Nigeria, joined Real Sociedad for a reported 16.2m euros ($16.2m) from Spanish La Liga rivals Almeria.

Seen as the right man to fill the void left by Alexander Isak's departure to Newcastle, he made an instant impact by scoring on his debut, two days after signing, in the 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid.

He also started for Sociedad in their maiden win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Europa League on Thursday.

Sadiq came to limelight at AS Roma and had loan stints at fellow Italian side Bologna, Torino and Perugia before spells in the Netherlands, Scotland and Serbia.

In 2016, he scored four goals to help Nigeria win a bronze medal in the Rio Olympics football event.