Noah Sadiki: Sunderland debut felt great

Congolese international Noah Sadiki has reacted to his first appearance for Sunderland AFC, saying he was eagerly waiting for an opportunity to feature for the Premier League team.

Sadiki shared his thoughts after playing for the Black Cats in pre-season matches against Sevilla FC and Sporting CP at the Estádio Algarve in Portugal.

The Black Cats drew 1-1 with the Spanish La Liga opponents on Saturday before losing 1-0 to the Portuguese champions on Monday.

“I’ve been waiting a while to play, so it was great to get out there and show what I can do,” the defender told Sunderland media.

The 20-year-old further said the pre-season games had helped build team-spirit and cohesion.

“I think as a team we played well in both games. Against Sporting, we just didn’t finish our chances, but we can learn about it and also not forget what we did well,” the Leopards star added.

Sadiki signed a five-year contract with Sunderland for an undisclosed fee from Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, with whom he helped to win the 2024-25 Belgian championship.

The Brussels’ born Sadiki joined Anderlecht aged six before working his way up to the professional ranks of RSCA.

Sadiki represented Belgium, the country of his birth, at the youth levels before switching to the DRC where he originally comes from.