Nigerian international and defender Ismaila Sodiq could be on his way out of local club Remo Stars to Albanian topflight side FK Partizani Tirana following commencement of official talks, Footy-Africa can exclusively confirm.
This follows a week of reports that have linked the Super Eagles youngster to FK Partizani. The latter and Remo Stars have held negotiations for days about Sodiq’s transfer, who has one year to the expiry of his contract.
Subsequently, FK Partizani intends to pay Remo Stars to the tune of €175,000. An exclusive source close to the player has told Footy-Africa that the Albanian side have tabled a three-year contract with Sodiq, and that he could do his medical tests next week.
“Partizani have followed Ismail (Sodiq) for months including in January when they dropped out of the race at the final stages. They are now back and they seem ready to pay Remo Stars the €175,000 they demand. He is keen on the move as well, as it’ll present the first opportunity to play professional football in Europe,” the source exclusively told Footy-Africa.
Sodiq made the biggest headlines in the Nigeria Premier Football League in the 2023/2024 season where he made 13 assists and scored one goal as a defender, and helped Remo Stars to a second spot finish on the table.
In the concluded campaign, he scored nine goals and assisted on four occasions in 22 appearances for Remo Stars across the local league and the CAF Champions League qualifiers. Overall since his Remo Stars debut in the 2021/22 season, he has played 84 games, scoring 15 goals with 24 assists.
At the international stage, Sodiq was a key pillar of the Super Eagles team in the qualification campaign of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN). He scored the opening goal in the 3-1 defeat of Ghana to help Nigeria qualify to the competition due for August 2025.
