GERS HAVE NEW KANU IN THE CAN
Pierre: Sadiq will be like Arsenal hero if he joins up
One word springs to Pierre Van Hooijdonk’s mind when he thinks of Rangers target Umar Sadiq.
“Special. He’s a special one,” he says. And he should know, having watched the Nigerian striker at close quarters for his former club NAC Breda in Holland last season.
Sadiq was on loan at the Dutch club but could be set to spend this season in Glasgow at Ibrox after Steven Gerrard moved to snare him from Roma.
Former Celtic hitman Van Hooijdonk was hugely impressed by the 21-year-old’s stint in his homeland where he bagged five goals in 12 games.
Now an agent, the Dutchman believes Sadiq has a unique talent and has compared him to one of his country’s legendary attackers, ex-Arsenal, Ajax and Inter hero Nwanko Kanu.
Van Hooijdonk admits there’s still plenty for the youngster to improve on but is convinced that he’ll cause Scottish Premiership defences all sorts of problems if Gers can seal the deal.
He told MailSport: “Some of the things Sadiq will do on the pitch, you won’t believe. He can produce pieces of magic. “He’s only 21 but he’ll do certain things which make you think, ‘How long have you been playing the game for?’ He’s a very unusual player. He’s really fast which is a big advantage in the game now.
“That’s why he was successful in the period he played for Breda.
“They didn’t have anyone with pace before Sadiq arrived so it allowed them to put the ball in behind defences for him.
“And he’s a confident lad. When he gets the ball he can play.
“But his body language is completely different to most players. It’s hard to explain until you see him in action.
“He’s got a bit of the Kanu about him. He has the same kind of style.
“He might not be at Kanu’s level yet but he’s that type of player.
“Other Dutch clubs were impressed by him last season. If you see him causing trouble at NAC then you believe in it.
“And you’ll say, ‘OK we’ll take that and accept the other things he has to improve on. We can work on it.’
“For him, it will be very good to go from Dutch football to the Scottish league. I expect him to play and that’s what he needs at this stage in his career.”
Van Hooijdonk, who spent four years at NAC before joining Celtic in 1995, is certain that Sadiq could be a valuable asset for Gerrard’s new- look Rangers if he joins.
But hav ing watched recent Old F i rm g ames , h e admits it ’s unrealistic to expect him to singlehandedly lead the Ibrox men to a title. As much as he reckons the Roma loanee could be a good addition, Van Hooijdonk believes Gerrard will need a few more quality signings like him to compete with Brendan Rodgers’ side. He said: “Rangers will need more than just Sadiq to go and win the title from Celtic. But he’ll definitely be a handful. “To say that he can be the one who wi l l decide if Rangers can compete for the title, that would be harsh on him. “I’m sure he’ l l play regularly for Rangers. But we can’t exaggerate. He’s young and raw. “You’ll either love him or get frustrated by him. So it would be asking a lot for him to go and win the title back for Rangers. “You can’t put all the pressure on this guy at his age. That’s not fair. “Rangers need more players to compete with Celtic. If you look at the Old Firm results last year, it’s clear they need to close the gap. “The points difference wasn’t that big at one point. But that doesn’t really show the gap that exists between the clubs.
“You only see the big difference in the games they played against each other. And you saw what it was last season.”
Van Hooijdonk knows it will be difficult for Sadiq to break into Roma’s first-team as they look to challenge the likes of Juventus and Napoli for the Serie A title.
But the Dutchman is adamant that won’t hold him back and insists Glasgow is the ideal destination for him.
However, he did warn the big frontman that if he’s to be a success in the Premiership, he’ll have to learn to stay on his feet a lot more than he did in Holland.
He said: “One thing he’ll need to change playing in Scotland is the way he goes down too easily.
“People are talking about Neymar right now. Well, Sadiq isn’t quite like that but he does go down too often.
“So he’ll need to adapt to the Scottish game in that sense. But I’m positive he could cause some damage there.
“Twenty years ago if you had a contract at Roma then you’d expect to play for them one day. But nowadays it’s different. Clubs now sign players and send them out on loan, hoping it might happen.”