New Recruit: Juma Bah

Whilst all the talk around Manchester City is about what can be done to improve the first team this season, the club has been focused on the long-term future during the January transfer window. Although Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov have joined now, they are the future rather than an instant impact signing. Marmoush arrives in his prime, not at the end of it. Juma Bah fits into the same group as the other two central defenders but needs some more time out on loan before he arrives. The Sierra Leone teenager has had a remarkable quick rise to top-flight football.

Career Progression

Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Juma Bah was working with his parents in their bakery whilst playing football in the streets. eventually playing with Freetown Giant Academy before signing for AIK Freetong in April 2021. Spent two seasons on loan at top-flight Freetonians SLIFA before being noticed by the scouting coordinator for Real Valladolid, Pachu Martinez.

He joined them on loan in August, living in the academy facilities and making one appearance for the reserve team, and then a few days later, he was called up to the senior side to make his La Liga debut against Real Sociedad. He wasn’t initially planned to be in the first team this season, but their injuries moved him up the pecking order. Now he’s the first player from Sierra Leone to play in the Spanish top flight.

Bah joined Valladolid in August last year on loan from AIK Freetong, with the option to buy for €150,000. On January 1st, 2025, they made his move permanent. But he had a release clause for €6 million, and they needed to get him to sign a new contract if the club was going to sell him for more. That’s where City has come in, with Bah’s agent paying his release clause and being reimbursed by the club, he’s then been sent out on loan to RC Lens. It’s also the source of Real Valladolid frustration, to scout the player in Freetown and lose him for so little.

Player Profile

For Real Valladolid this season, Juma Bah has played mostly as the RCB in a back four or back three. Starting just ten games in La Liga this season, which is partly due to his breakthrough being quicker than expected. As mentioned above, the plan wasn’t for Bah to be a first-team player at the start of the season.

At 195cm tall, Juma Bah is taller than Erling Haaland (194cm), and it’s his ability in the air that’s been his standout quality this season. In Europe’s Top Five Leagues, only one central defender has won 70%+ of their aerial duels and wins 3.0+ per 90. That’s Juma Bah with 3.23 per 90 and a 70.5% success rate.

It’s tough to read too much into Juma Bah’s ability with such a small sample size in La Liga this season, but his prowess in the air is clear. He’s got a good burst of pace, along with his long legs, to move past opposition players after winning back the ball. Is comfortable defending out wide and using his body to push attackers off the ball. Does a good job of adjusting his feet when being run towards by a forward, not losing his footing, and then making a challenge.

On the ball it’s much of the same, when he’s playing for a side in a relegation fight, there isn’t much opportunity to be progressive. But you can see his vision and desire to play those passes, there have been examples of Bah winning the ball off an opposition winger, stepping forward and playing a pass between the lines, or looking for a switch out to his left winger. The extent of all these glimpses shown at Valladolid that can be delivered consistently will be found out on loan at RC Lens. Will Still is a talented coach who wants to play man-to-man off the ball, who will adapt to the opposition and impose his style in games.

Wider Impact

Until we see how his loan spell with RC Lens goes this season, it’s difficult to work out how quickly Juma Bah could be integrated into the first team. It’s more likely that he will arrive in 2026, and I wouldn’t view him as a CFG signing. Instead, I’d look at the progression of William Saliba on loan from Arsenal to Ligue 1 as a comparison. The physical qualities are there, but can he develop on the ball and with his decision-making?

Saliba was bought by Arsenal in the summer of 2019 after playing 1,277 league minutes for Saint-Etienne during the 18/19 season. Spent the 19/20 season on loan at Saint-Etienne but only managed 922 minutes, then went to Nice during the 20/21 season to get 1,800 minutes before finishing his loan journey at Marseille for the 21/22 season, playing 3,240 minutes.

Saliba was ready to be integrated during the 21/22 season and could have done so instead of spending his time on loan at Marseille. For Juma Bah, he’s going to have spent half a season in La Liga, playing for a side in a relegation battle, and now finish 24/25 at a midtable side in Ligue 1 that’s pushing for a European spot. It’s a lot to adjust to after moving to Europe from Africa, more than likely, he’s looking at another loan for the 25/26 before knowing he’s ready to join Manchester City in the Premier League.

With the three central defenders picked up during this window, you’d think that a departure is on the cards in the summer for John Stones and/or Nathan Ake. Strictly from a physical and injury point of view, with how the game is heading as volume increases and the league demands more from players physically. Juma Bah gives you a third CB that could be ready by 2026, which is then a good time to think about moving on to another CB as a young player joins.

Lens has sold Abdukodir Khusanov to Manchester City and Kevin Danso to Tottenham Hotspurs, two central defenders who played 1,000+ league minutes for Lens during the first half this season, so the route into the team for regular starts is there for Juma Bah.

This is the last point to finish on, and this ties into the signing of Vitor Reis in particular. If you are one of the bigger clubs that usually doesn’t take much risk on the players you buy, then as a result, you pay for it. Real Madrid bought Militao from Porto rather than buying him directly from Brazil and loaning him out to develop. PSG has bought directly from Brazil with Lucas Beraldo, picking up a quality young CB, and has spent less. In the short term, it’s a big fee for a young player, but in the long term, it’s a better deal for these clubs if you can manage their development correctly. That’s quite clearly the plan with Vitor Reis. I’d extend that to Juma Bah and players coming in from Africa in the future. It’s just about managing the development in the right way that aligns with how much risk you can take, but with the way football is heading, you don’t want to be funding teams in your league to develop players when you can do that yourself.

For more on central defenders moving to Brazil from Europe, check out this post from SCOUTED.

If you’re looking for more content on Juma Bah then I’d recommend this excellent article from La Pausa, which is written by Jamie Kemp. 👇