Baba Sulemaye (born 7 November 1978), known as Baba Sule, is a Ghanaian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Born in

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

, Sule arrived in Spain not yet aged 18 from his hometown club Cornerstones FC, and proceeded to represent in the country

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

CD Ourense Club Deportivo Ourense, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1952 after the dissolution of old UD Orensana, it played in Segunda División B – Group 1, holding home games a ...

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

UE Lleida Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as ''Lérida Balompié-AEM'' on 30 October 1939, and became ''Unión Deportiva Lérida'' in 1947, after a merger with ''C ...

Tomelloso CF Tomelloso Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Tomelloso, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It played its home games at ''Estadio Municipal de Tomelloso'', which has a capacity of 5,000 seats. Founded in 1979 as ...

CD San Isidro Club Deportivo Raqui San Isidro is a Spanish football team based in San Isidro, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1970 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadio La Palmera'', with a 2,500-seat capacity. Season to s ...

UE Rapitenca Unió Esportiva Rapitenca is a Spanish football team based in Sant Carles de la Ràpita, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1930 it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal La Devesa'', which holds 3,000 sp ...

and

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish professional football club in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with a capacity of 3,800 seats. ...

in a stay that would last 11 years, in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

but also much lower, with very poor individual results: in 1996–97, he only played three times as Mallorca returned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

; over five seasons, also in the second tier, he only made seven league appearances for

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

-based

due to two serious knee injuries. In 2008, already with a

Spanish passport A Spanish passport () is an identity document issued to Spanish citizens with right of abode in the Iberian mainland, Ceuta, Melilla, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, for travel outside Spain. Every Spanish citizen is also a citizen of the ...

, Sule moved back to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, signing with Nigerian team Kwara United FC. He returned to Spain after his retirement due to injuries, working as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (; born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fiorentina. Considered one of the best keepers of his generation, he is known for his reflexes and shot-stopping capabilitie ...

's personal driver – before the

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

was eligible for a driving licence – and later a kit man for

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

References

External links

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Alvaro13 profile
1978 births Living people Footballers from Kumasi Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Cornerstone F.C. players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Mallorca players CD Ourense footballers CD Leganés players UE Lleida players CF Rayo Majadahonda players Kwara United F.C. players Ghana men's under-20 international footballers Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Nigeria Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria {{Ghana-footy-midfielder-stub