Manchester City’s efforts to secure Sierra Leonean teenage sensation Juma Bah from Real Valladolid have ignited outrage from the Spanish club, accusing the Premier League giants of unethical conduct in their pursuit.
The dispute centers on City bypassing traditional transfer negotiations and allegedly encouraging Bah to terminate his contract unilaterally.
According to reports from Spain, Manchester City initially engaged in discussions with Valladolid over an €8 million transfer fee for the 19-year-old defender. Meanwhile, rivals Fenerbahce and Inter Milan had reportedly tabled offers as high as €12 million. However, City instead opted to accept a €6 million penalty to sever Bah’s youth contract, sidestepping Valladolid’s terms.
Bah, who joined Valladolid on loan from AIK Freetong in Sierra Leone, became a permanent Valladolid player in January when the club exercised a €165,000 buy clause. However, the player remained on a youth contract, a situation City allegedly exploited to avoid paying the higher release clause that would have been triggered by a senior deal.
Valladolid claimed Bah had refused to sign the upgraded contract based on advice from his agent and Manchester City.
In a strongly-worded statement issued on Wednesday, Valladolid confirmed that Bah failed to report for training and had deposited the required sum to terminate his contract. They accused Manchester City of orchestrating the move and expressed their “disappointment and indignation” over the situation.
Full Statement:
Abdulai Juma Bah and his agent informed Real Valladolid yesterday afternoon of their intention to unilaterally break the contract that unites both parties. Previously, on the same afternoon yesterday, Manchester City sent a statement requesting Real Valladolid to open negotiations for the player for a possible permanent transfer. Today, the Sierra Leonean has decided not to report to his workplace for morning training. For all these reasons, the Club holds the player responsible for failing to comply with his contractual commitments, and has requested its legal department to initiate disciplinary actions in this regard.
The Club considers that behind the player’s decision is Manchester City, belonging to the City Football Group, which appears to have advised the player to adopt this path that places Real Valladolid in a defenseless situation, after having recently rejected financial offers of a higher amount, even more so when the player is in the legally protected period of the youth stage and, who in recent times had refused to sign the professional player license, since this entailed the automatic increase of his termination clause . Yesterday he warned the three parties of this whole situation through different requirements, warning them of the possible consequences of their actions.
Juma Bah arrived at Los Anexos last summer on loan from AIK Freetown. The loan contract with the Sierra Leonean club ended on June 30 of this season and included a clause for Real Valladolid to exercise a purchase option, a clause that the Blanquivioleta entity exercised on the first of January so that the federation rights of the central defender belong to Pucela under a new contract of longer duration, and with better conditions.
The player’s intention, supposedly supported and guided by Manchester City and his agent, has caused great disappointment and indignation within Real Valladolid, which welcomed Juma Bah with open arms and gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation has just confirmed that the player has deposited the amount for the unilateral termination of the contract. In this sense, Real Valladolid informs that it reserves the right to go to the appropriate legal and sporting jurisdictions to exercise its rights and defend its interests.
