The Yellow Submarines have distanced themselves from reports claiming a deal for the Nigerian international is all but done
Contrary to reports that have made the rounds in the Spanish media, Villarreal are not close to sealing the signing of Almeria striker Umar Sadiq.
Villarreal chief executive officer Fernando Negueroles Roig made this submission during the club’s presentation of Gio Lo Celso as their newest signing. The Argentine rejoins Villarreal from Tottenham.
One of the transfer market’s most talked about strikers, Sadiq is believed to be close to completing a move away from Almeria.
Almeria’s CEO confirmed this much last week when he revealed that the Rojiblancos had received bids of about €30 million and that the transfer of the Nigerian forward was imminent.
Villarreal had been leading the race to acquire Sadiq all summer, and it was widely accepted that the Yellow Submarines were the club that had made the offer.
Although, fellow La Liga campaigners Getafe have also been credited with making a bid for Sadiq.
But Villarreal have punctured a hole in those claims.
What is Villarreal’s position?
CEO Negueroles Roig has ruled out the signing of Sadiq, insisting that news suggesting a deal was almost done is fake.
“This is a topic that comes from Almeria and we don’t know anything about it here,” Roig said.
Roig, though, confirmed that Villarreal were interested in Sadiq at the beginning of the transfer season, but financial bottlenecks stalled negotiations.
Roig added: “We talked about the market at the beginning, but it was an unfeasible operation, and we didn’t do anything else.”
With Almeria not planning to reduce their financial demands on Sadiq, Roig is convinced Villarreal cannot afford the services of the former Partizan man.
To show that Villarreal are nowhere close to signing the Super Eagles striker, Roig affirms that “right now it is as if they are talking to me about reaching Jupiter.”
It should be noted that Sadiq is not desperate to leave Almeria.
The striker, who netted 19 goals and added 12 assists in the Segunda Division last season, has always voiced his desire to experience La Liga in La Union’s colours.
The former AS Roma starlet made his top-flight debut last weekend in Almeria’s 1-2 defeat at home to champions Real Madrid.
