Overview:
Sadat Happy Anaku was selected by the Ugandan Government as part of a ‘Team Fundi’ project, showcasing the talents of the country’s top 22 players in a series of games at a Spanish training camp.
Uganda’s forward Sadat Happy Anaku, 21, has been officially unveiled at Scottish professional football club, Dundee United.
Anaku joins the “Terrors” from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Football Club after signing a two-year deal.
For the next days, Anaku will apply for his work permit and international clearance (ITC) certificate.
Anaku will don shirt 20 of the treasured orange Dundee United jersey of the club founded in 1909.
He was also selected by the Ugandan Government as part of a ‘Team Fundi’ project, showcasing the talents of the country’s top 22 players in a series of games at a Spanish training camp.
At Dundee United, he had traveled with former Express defender Enock Walusimbi.
Dundee United watched Sadat net four goals in one game at that camp and, following an integration period at Tannadice, he has excelled.
Deployed as a number 9, in friendlies with Leicester U21s, Arsenal U21s and Newcastle, Sadat underlined his quality.
He also netted a hat-trick in a 6-2 Dundee United B Team win over Queen’s Park earlier this week before penning a deal with United until the summer of 2024.
“I’ve been really impressed with Sadat since he came in. You have to have a certain mental toughness to come in from overseas and settle. Sadat has done that by leaving a really good impression on the players and staff at United. He has a real hunger and drive to try and succeed in European football and sees this as a real opportunity to do that. He’s a really good finisher and will offer something different to the attacking options we already have at the club. That gives the squad a good balance. There’s an element of the unknown about him but we can see he has real potential. That element of unknown can help us. Defenders won’t know what he’s about and he’s not easy to play against from what I’ve seen in training. Hopefully he can capitalize on that element of surprise and get off to a good start. If he can hit the ground running and score quickly then things can fly from there.” Dundee United Head Coach Jack Ross is quoted by the official club website.
Dundee United Sporting Director Tony Asghar expressed delight upon the arrival of Anaku.
“We’re delighted to have Sadat here. “He’s coming from a country that has big ambitions and objectives and Sadat can become an integral part of that. Uganda want to get to the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations and Sadat is a player with real potential at international level. We identified his talent at an early stage and invited him to Scotland see how he could integrate into our group. We’re delighted with the impact he has made here so far. The coaching and performance staff believe he is good enough to make an impact on our first team. Is he good enough to take the next level beyond that? Yes, that’s now down to us to develop him. We’ll identify his attributes and add in the bits he needs to become a top player European and help him fulfil his potential at Dundee United.” Dundee United Sporting Director Tony Asghar noted.
Anaku scored 22 goals in 67 games for KCCA and is on the brink of breaking into the Uganda national team.
In Scotland, Anaku joins Motherwell defender Bevis Mugabi, the other Ugandan.