
Practically every player in La Liga has a release clause – a fee which, if offered by another club, allows the player to speak to them with a view to sealing a transfer. This is because Spain’s employment law gives players the right to – in theory – break their contract at any time to join a new team.
A player’s previous club would be due a fee, but this would only be determined through a lengthy process in court. Inserting a release clause in a player’s contract prevents that. In sierra Leonean Juma Bah case, the clause was not inserted and so he opted to terminate the contract himself as required by regulations.
Instead of one club handing over the money to the other, however, in Spain paying the release clause involves the player – or a legal representative acting on their behalf – receiving the money from the interested team and delivering it to La Liga’s central offices in Madrid. La Liga then distributes the money. (Or, in Bah’s case, it was the Spanish FA who received and distributed the money).
After the 18-year-old made his debut for their first team in September, Valladolid say his agent began changing their position and insisting that Bah would not sign the new agreement. Bah’s agent denies this, saying they received the proposal and agreed to it, and that there was no further communication from the club.
This month, at the request of the player, Valladolid began negotiating with Turkish side Fenerbahce and clubs in Italy over the transfer of Bah. Fenerbahce were understood to be willing to pay €8.5 million, ($8.86 million) obviously above the €6 million ($6.3 million) release clause in his youth contract, but with the caveat that he would stay at Valladolid for the remainder of 2024-25 to help their fight against relegation.
Bah’s agent said: “I submitted several offers before the opening of the transfer window. Some clubs even offered more than the price fixed by the release clause, but Real Valladolid did not accept any offer.”
Valladolid say they were contacted by Manchester City last Tuesday, with the Premier League side wanting to open negotiations over Bah. On the same day, they were informed by the player’s agent that Bah’s contract was terminated after his release clause had been paid and that he was leaving.
The player went to Valladolid’s training ground, collected his boots and left again. He did not turn up for training the following day (Wednesday) and has never been back.
Also that Wednesday, Valladolid called the RFEF to check the agent’s claims and were told that €6 million had been deposited, meeting the clause in Bah’s contract.
Later in the day, Valladolid released a statement accusing City of “appearing to advise” Bah to “breach his contract” with them. The Spanish club said it had been put “in a defenceless position, after having recently rejected financial offers of a higher amount”. There was no comment from City on the statement and comments made by Valladolid, presumably waiting for the issue to blow over.
Then on Monday afternoon, City posted a four-sentence statement on their website announcing the signing of Bah, and his immediate loan to Lens.
They said he had “completed his registration” with the club after “a spell with Real Valladolid”.
Bah’s agent wrote on X on Tuesday: “One of these clubs has shown a special interest in Juma Bah and, after attempting an amicable negotiation, has decided, voluntarily, consciously and analysing the whole situation, to pay the price of the release clause to free the player from his contract with Real Valladolid and proceed to sign him.”
Valladolid declined to comment on City’s announcement. But why do City want Bah?
Considering he is more of a ‘CFG (City Football Group) signing’, meaning he is a promising player that can be an asset to any club in the CFG stable now or in the future, and in theory holds significant resale value, City will want to minimise their risk (i.e. the outlay) as much as possible, in case Bah does not reach his potential or the move does not work out other reasons.
Bah was enthused by the idea of joining City – the group, which includes 13 teams worldwide from the United States to Japan, Brazil and Australia – and will receive good money for doing so.
Although parent club City are clearly rebuilding their squad, having also signed two other young centre-backs and forward Omar Marmoush this month, Bah will not be an immediate first-team reinforcement at the Etihad Stadium.
Essentially, he is another signing for CFG, and the vast majority of those never actually play for Manchester City. He has been loaned to Lens for the second half of 2024-25, following their sale of 20-year-old fellow centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov to City (who has gone straight into manager Pep Guardiola’s senior squad), and that may be extended to next season too.
What happens next? Well, Bah has joined a team who are seventh of the 18 teams in France’s top tier (a position that was enough last season for European qualification), while Valladolid are bottom of the Spanish equivalent, six points off safety.
Valladolid are consulting their legal team before deciding what, if anything, they can do about Bah’s contract termination and subsequent move to City. Bah’s agent wrote on X that he would be considering legal action of his own against Valladolid.
- The Athletic report