Sierra Leone’s football community has a new reason to watch the Bundesliga this season. Abdulai “Juma” Bah, the 20-year-old Sierra Leone international centre-back, has joined FC Augsburg on a season-long loan from Manchester City, with the German club holding a reported €21.5 million option to buy at the end of the deal.
Bah’s move was completed on deadline day, September 1, 2026, capping a rapid rise that has taken him from Real Valladolid’s La Liga side, to Manchester City, and through loan spells at RC Lens and OGC Nice. He already has 7 caps and 1 goal for the Sierra Leone national team since debuting during 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.
“FCA is a club where young players can develop very well. There are many current examples of that,” Bah said of his move.
The transfer carries extra meaning for Sierra Leonean football fans: Bah isn’t the first of his countrymen to wear the Augsburg shirt. Former defender Gibril Sankoh represented the club between 2010 and 2013, making 62 appearances before moves to China and the Netherlands, where he now coaches FC Groningen’s under-17 side. Sankoh has publicly welcomed Bah to Augsburg, embracing him as part of a small but proud lineage of Sierra Leoneans who’ve worn the club’s colours.
For a country with limited representation in Europe’s top leagues, seeing a young talent like Bah break into a Bundesliga side — and receive the blessing of one of the players who came before him — is a moment worth celebrating. Sierra Leone News will be following Bah’s progress at Augsburg throughout the season.
Sierra Leone News 
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