18-year-old Sierra Leonean defender, Abdulai Juma Bah becomes the first Sierra Leonean player to play in the Spanish La Liga.
He debuted for Real Valladolid against Real Sociedad in today’s La Liga match, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
Like many football greats who started their footballing careers playing on the streets, 18-year-old Juma Bah started playing football on the street of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
At the age of 15, while playing for the Giant of Freetown Academy Youth Team, Juma was scouted by Chernor Musa Jalloh, who opened the doors for him to join AIK Freetown, a third-division football club in Sierra Leone.
After a year with AIK Freetown, Juma was loaned to Freetonian SLIFA in the Sierra Leone Premier League.
In 2023, he made his first trip to Europe with FC Kallon to participate in the Viareggio Youth Cup in Italy.
Juma made was called up to the Sierra Leone national team against Morocco at the age of 17.
Real Valladolid
Musa Jalloh’s connection with Patrick Mork, a representative of Global Soccer Management based in Alicante, paves the way for Juma’s introduction to Spanish football.
Mork recognises the demand in Spain for players with physical attributes suited to the climate and presents his project to several clubs.
Domingo Catoira and Pachu Martínez welcome him to their office in Zorrilla at the beginning of 2024, and he receives an offer from the Swedish representative to cover part of the travel expenses to Gambia and Sierra Leone.
Mork was confident that Real Valladolid would be interested in several players from his portfolio.
In May 2024, Pachu traveled to Africa to watch the footballers scouted by Mork and Musa Jalloh play in person. It didn’t take long for Juma Bah to catch the interest of the technical secretariat member of Valladolid.
His height of 195 centimetres impressed them, and they agreed on a loan with an option to buy. Obtaining the necessary papers for Juma to travel to Spain was the next challenge after the challenging trip to Africa.
Juma Bah made his debut for Real Valladolid against Real Sociedad in today’s La Liga match, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
He is the first Sierra Leonean player to play in the Spanish La Liga
