NOAH SADIKI: WHO ARE YOU?

Sunderland have completed their third signing of the summer, bringing in DR Congo international central midfielder Noah Sadiki, for a reported fee of €17 million plus €3 million (£14.6 million plus £2.6 million), from Belgian Pro League champions Union Saint-Gilloise. Here’s a rundown of his career so far:

Born in Brussels, Belgium, in 2004, Noah Sadiki is of Congolese descent and represents DR Congo at an international level. Between U18 and U20 levels he was registered to play for Belgium and picked up a number of youth caps for them until switching allegiance to play for DR Congo’s U21 team. To date, he has picked up nine caps for the Central African country.

At a club level, Sadiki joined Anderlecht’s youth academy in 2011 and made his senior debut for the club on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign, coming off the bench in the final few minutes in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge.

The following season he played for both the senior team and for Anderlecht’s reserve side who feature in the Belgian second tier. Overall, he turned out 18 times for the first team and on 14 occasions for the reserves. The main highlight would definitely be him getting onto the pitch to play eventual Europa Conference League winners West Ham in the group stage of the competition.

In July 2023, the midfielder left Anderlecht and transferred to fellow Pro League side Union Saint-Gilloise for a fee of €1.4 million (£1.2 million) and immediately became a regular name on the team sheet. He managed 53 games in all competitions, including matches in both the Europa League and Conference League, playing twice against Liverpool in the former of those. Saint-Gilloise finished runners-up in the league but they did manage to win their first Belgian Cup in 110 years. During the run to the final, Noah featured in every round bar the semi-final and appeared off of the bench as his club defeated Antwerp 1-0 to lift the cup.

Last season saw his first career goals, the first of which was the third in a 4-0 victory over KRC Genk in a league fixture. In 55 matches total, he scored twice and assisted eight times, which is a personal record for most number of games played in a season and most number of goal contributions. He also won the Belgian Super Cup but more notably, he helped Les Unionistes be crowned champions of Belgium for the first time since 1935.

Able to play in his primary role as a central midfielder, or as a defensive midfielder as well as a right back, Noah Sadiki becomes our third midfield signing of the summer. Additionally, he becomes our second signing likely to miss a portion of the season as his national team have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place between the 21st December and 18th January. The amount of games missed for us depends on how far Les Léopards progress in the tournament.