English Premier League side Brighton join the race to sign Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq

ENGLISH Premier League side Brighton & Hove have joined the race to sign former Nigeria U-23 striker Umar Sadiq ahead of the forthcoming season following his devastating form in the Spanish second division during the last campaign.

Sadiq, 24, was in scintillating form last season, scoring 22 goals and providing seven assists for Almeria who bought him from Partizan Belgrade in October for €5m. He had already scored six goals for Partizan before joining the Spanish side and on arriving in Spain continued with his great form.

However, with Almeria failing to secure promotion into La Liga, Sadiq is expected to leave this summer and several clubs have already begun enquiring about him. Sevilla lead the race for his services while Getafe have already had a €16m bid rejected.

However, according to football website lacolinadenervion, Bayer Leverkusen and Brighton have now joined the race to sign the former Rangers star. To secure the services of the lanky striker, however,  they will have to pay between €20m and €25m to Almeria.

Although Sadiq reportedly has a release clause of €60m in his contract but Almeria are said to be ready to let him go for less than half of that.  Brighton’s interest in the former Rangers star is not surprising, given the Seagulls outscored just five teams in the Premier League last season, including the bottom four clubs.