Between bags of flour and turned on, Juma Bah molded the masses that fed the inhabitants of their punished region in Sierra Leone. Working in that family bakery, the young man discovered that his life did not kill himself only with wheat and yeast, but also with courage and cunning. Bah, before arriving at Real Valladolid and long before signing for Manchester City of Pep GuardiolaHe had tanned hands. In his native Freetown, each dawn was a background race against adversity. The defense found his refuge on the pitch, where football became his own act of resistance. Its history just begins to be written after being one of the most popular names in the winter market.
Juma Bah has lived in six months a meteoric ascent in his sports career. “I started playing in the streets, until someone saw me and started training with a team”Juma acknowledged in her first interview with the media of Real Valladolid, when in 2024 she landed in Pucela. And it is that the central started playing in the streets of FREETOWN, the capital of Sierra Leone. Being a teenager, he helped his father working in the bakery that held the family in the market of the Congo neighborhood of his city. “I helped bring cereals to bake, and also my mother to cook what I sold in the market”I remembered excitedly.
His first steps in a team were at the Giant of Freetown youth. Far from professionalism, a cazatalent crossed his way. That “someone” It was Chernos Musa Jalloh: he noticed him and gave him the opportunity to sign for the Aik Freeong of the Premier League from Sierra Leone. “It was complicated, I had no boots to play and it was really stressful”, Recognized the footballer. Later, he participated in the ViaREGGIO Youth Cup Italian with FC Kallon in 2023. His performances caught the attention of his country’s selection, which summoned him for a friendly match against Morocco and four others, although his debut has not yet occurred.
Being a teenager, he helped his father working in the bakery that held the family in Freetown. “I helped bring cereals to bake, and also my mother to cook what I sold in the market”
His arrival in Valladolid, a dream
The next step in Juma’s football career was the most anticipated: arrival in Europe. There, ‘Pachu’ Martínez, coordinator of the area of Exploration of Real Valladolid. Junously with Domingo Catoira, they designed a plan for immersion and the search for talent in Africa through individual follow -up to the players, controlled at the level of family contact or their agents and with the option of traveling to the place of origin in their usual competitions. “The will from the beginning was to look for players who adapted to the conditions of the club and the needs of the first team”I explain ‘Pachu’ in an interview with Relief.
Then, Juma entered the scene. Pachu traveled to Sierra Leone and quickly noticed the player: “The first game I see is a low level, but I can see a player with a physique like the one we are looking for, who wins all physical duels, uses both legs to intercept or to receive the ball … I see things that come out of the usual “. After the first impression, they commissioned that all the videos of the Juma matches pass them to be able to analyze it thoroughly, but there was no success.
Juma remembers that it was “Really incredible” His signing for Valladolid: “‘Pachu’ came from Spain to Sierra Leone, saw me in the league and believed in me”. In exchange for just under 200,000 euros and a salary of 2,500, it reached the capital of Pisuerga. Although not everything was so easy. The challenge was to get permission to fly to the Peninsula. The difficulties in traveling and leaving behind their parents and their three older brothers, were the main stones along the way.
He settled in the residence of young players of Real Valladolid Parquesol, played two games with the youth and one with the promises. And, without time to process, direct to the first team after the sale of Boyomo to Osasuna and the injuries in defense. On September 21, the opportunity to debut at Pezzolano orders in a party at José Zorrilla against Real Sociedad came. Juma remembered the moment: “When I entered the costumes and I saw my name in the initial eleven, my heart accelerated, I couldn’t believe it.”. The first instructions were clear: to play and enjoy as in training. After that first game in the league, Juma was excited: “May my mother see me play on television is a dream”.
“It is a central with an impressive, perfect physique. He is a big, corpulent player, a narrow waist, wide back and a sensational musculature to be a athlete ”Explain to Doll Alberto Edjogo, analyst Dazn. In turn, he assures that “In the duel one against one and in the defense of the area, he is a player who has a lot of potential”. In Pucela he has played 13 games -12 in the League and one in Copa del Rey-, being one of the revelations of this season. But 2025 arrived and everything changed. The City appeared and took Juma.
Everything was good news, and Valladolid’s fans were delighted with a very dear player since his debut. But the City arrived, he paid the termination clause and the history of Juma with the Pucela came to an end when he had just begun
Open war after signing for Manchester City
On January 1, 2025, Real Valladolid took the Juma Bah services definitely. With a six million euros clause, the Sierraleonés central became officially part of the Blanquivioleta team. Everything was good news, everything was windy wind and the fans were delighted with a very dear player since his debut. But the City arrived, he paid the termination clause and the history of Juma with the Pucela came to an end when he had just begun.
On January 22, the City officially signed and on the 27th of the same month he announced his transfer until the end of the season to the Lens of the Ligue ias part of Khusanov’s transfer to the team led by Pep Guardiola. Pierre Dréossi, general director of the LENS, declared that “At 18, Juma has established himself in recent months as one of the most promising players in the League”.
In Real Valladolid, the anger with the player, his agents and Manchester City was capital. The Pucelano club made a statement ensuring that the player and his agents had announced them “His intention to unilaterally break the contract”. The Central did not appear to the training on January 22 and the club requested to initiate disciplinary actions. The Valladolid team directly held the City directly for pressing the player, leaving Valladolid “In a situation of helplessness”.
The end of Juma Bah in Valladolid lived very badly. “The atmosphere is very crooked. The general feeling is that it could have been avoided. You want six million for a kid, but you could have won much more ”Pablo Marcos Paz exposes, a journalist who follows the current Pucela. However, he thinks that the club’s statement does not have much legal tour: “What denounces is that Manchester City has directly interceded with the player, which cannot be, but that happens practically in all the movements in the world of football”.
The footballer, meanwhile, accused the Spanish club of “Infamias” against your person. Through an Instagram statement he explained that his departure was legal. “I have just met the compensation requirements unilaterally and it is not true that neither my agents nor I refused to sign a new license”The central defended, in addition to admitting his will to “Evolve and advance sports and economically”.
The Juma Bah’s path in Europe has only started. Between the oven of the family bakery and the lights of the Premier League There is a fleeting trip
Juma Bah now faces his greatest football challenge. No one was waiting for their signing for the City six months after arriving in Europe and with just over ten games in the elite. “A radically different context awaits you. The City is normal for him to play with an advanced defense, with meters behind the back, which forces him to take out the ball ”Edjogo exposes. The analyst also highlights his mentality and strides: “It has the capacity to recover, to rectify and that seems to me that it is a very good feature”. Despite this, Alberto still sees him “A little green”. We will be attentive to how the Sierraleonés evolves in the Lens.
Alberto Edjogo values this type of betting by African players very positively. “The Spanish market must opt for this because it is contracted economic. Is in a maximum containment and austerity plan ”. In addition, it ensures that African teams expect training rights to fall, but that they do not ask for much money. Edjogo defends this profile of players: “At physical, conditional and to be able to polish it, that is, the more moldable and flexible, much better, because then you can add those European football ingredients”.
The Juma Bah’s path in Europe has only started. Between the oven of the family bakery and the lights of the Premier League There is a fleeting trip. Bah, that young man who kneaded bread at dawn in FREETOWN, now faces the challenge of polishing in Manchester City prior step by France. Its history, like good yeast, is still in the process of fermentation. With the same patience and dedication that is needed to expect a good bread, the Sierraleonés can end up becoming that central defense that no one can break.
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Photography by Getty Images.