The Saga On Juma Bah’s Transfer – So Far

Juma was signed by La Liga outfit Real Valladolid to the Youth Team on a loan deal from AIK Freetong in Sierra Leone. He was given a youth license by Valladolid, who paid a loan fee of €40,000 to AIK Freetong, and later paid €125,000 on a permanent deal, making it a total of €165,000 transfer fee to AIK Freetong.

However, Juma’s contract with Real Valladolid remains a youth contract, not even a B-Team contract nor a Senior contract.

According to reports, Juma was one of the lowest paid players in the 1st division, earning around €2,500 per week.

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Even though Valladolid gave him the opportunity for a European football experience, it appears that they lack confidence in him to upgrade his contract.

When he was eventually introduced and featured in matches for the senior team, he suddenly started attracting interests from top clubs around Europe, including Manchester City, Inter Milan, and Newcastle United.

Manchester City stood out among the other interests for Juma. They explored the possibility of signing him through his agent, Patrick Mork. Man City were willing to accept sanctions from UEFA in terms of ‘Fine and Compensation’.

Now, due to the length of time on his contract (which is a youth contract), the UEFA rules and Spanish FA regulations will require a fine and compensation fee of €6,000,000 for a youth player on contract. If he has a B-Team contract, the fine or clause would have been €15,000,000, then €30,000,000 for a player on a senior contract.

After informing Valladolid of his intention of terminating his contract, Juma Bah went ahead and paid his release fee/compensation fee of €6,000,000 to the Spanish FA (which he might secured from Man City) and clear his way out of the club. Valladolid was informed yesterday about Juma buying his contract by the Spanish FA.

He’s been offered a 6-year deal by Man City, but he will be sent on loan to RC Lens in France. City are reportedly paying around €15,000,000 to Juma’s agent, which also includes the €6,000,000 already paid to Valladolid by Juma.

Now, what seemed to be a smart deal by Valladolid by offering Juma a youth contract on financial grounds (i.e., paying him low wages), has now become a crucial error, as they are now missing out on a huge cash-out on the Sierra Leonean defender. It’s unclear on what grounds Valladolid want to take legal action against Man City, Juma, and his agent.

There are several instances in which players have bought their contracts in order to sign for other clubs. Juma is not the first.

We will wait and see how events unfold…