Abdoulaye Ba (born 1 January 1991) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Saudi club Al-Faisaly.
Born in Saint-Louis, Ba joined FC Porto's youth ranks in 2008, aged 17. He spent his first two seasons as a senior on loan to two other Portuguese clubs, S.C. Covilhã in the Segunda Liga and Académica de Coimbra of the Primeira Liga,[2] making his debut in the latter competition on 15 August 2011 in a 2–1 away win against U.D. Leiria[3] and also playing the full 90 minutes against Sporting CP in that campaign's Taça de Portugal final, which ended 1–0 for the Students.[4]
In September 2012, Porto bought back 25% of Ba's economic rights for €750,000 from investor "Pearl Design Holding Limited", with his value being estimated at €3 million at that time.[5] He made his first league appearance for the Dragons on 2 November of that year, coming on as a substitute for injured Maicon in the first half of an eventual 5–0 home victory over C.S. Marítimo.[6]
Ba was sent off for two bookable offences in the final of the Taça da Liga against S.C. Braga on 13 April 2013, the second of which also resulted in a penalty and the game's only goal, scored by Alan in the last minute of the first half.[7] On 3 September, he moved to fellow top-division team Vitória S.C. for one year.[8]
On 1 February 2014, Ba returned to Porto after appearing sparingly with the Minho Province side.[9] On 4 August, he joined La Liga's Rayo Vallecano also in a temporary deal.[10] In the following summer more of the same, as he moved to Fenerbahçe SK.[11]
For 2016–17, Ba continued in the Turkish Süper Lig, joining Alanyaspor also on loan.[12] After a spell at TSV 1860 Munich marred by injury problems, even though he was first choice when available,[13][14][15] he returned to Rayo on 30 August 2017 after agreeing to a four-year contract.[16]
Ba returned to the Spanish second tier on 11 March 2020, signing for Deportivo de La Coruña on a short loan due to Michele Somma's serious injury.[17][18] On 8 October, he joined Romanian Liga I club FC Dinamo București on a one-year deal,[19] leaving however after only two months.[20]
Ba settled rarely the following years, representing in quick succession Moreirense FC,[21] F.C. Arouca (both in the Portuguese top flight),[22] Sabah FC (Azerbaijan Premier League),[23] C.D. Tondela (Portugal, division two)[24] and Al-Faisaly FC (Saudi First Division League).[25]
Ba represented Senegal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[26] He had won his first cap for the full side on 29 February of that year, in a 0–0 friendly draw with South Africa.
Ba's older brothers, Mamadou and Pape Samba, were also footballers.[27]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Covilhã (loan) | 2010–11 | Liga de Honra | 24 | 9 | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 9 | |||
| Académica (loan) | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 22 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 26 | 2 | |||
| Porto | 2012–13 | Primeira Liga | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| Porto B | 2012–13 | Segunda Liga | 9 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 2 | ||||
| Vitória Guimarães (loan) | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 6 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 5[d] | 1 | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 2014–15 | La Liga | 20 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||||
| Fenerbahçe (loan) | 2015–16 | Süper Lig | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | 5[d] | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| Alanyaspor (loan) | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 10 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||||
| 1860 Munich (loan) | 2016–17 | 2. Bundesliga | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2[e] | 0 | 18 | 3 | ||
| Rayo Vallecano | 2017–18 | Segunda División | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | La Liga | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 45 | 1 | |||||
| Deportivo (loan) | 2019–20 | Segunda División | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Dinamo București | 2020–21 | Liga I | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Moreirense | 2020–21 | Primeira Liga | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Primeira Liga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||||
| Arouca | 2021–22 | Primeira Liga | 20 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||||
| Sabah | 2022–23 | Azerbaijan Premier League | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 2 | |||
| Career Total | 232 | 20 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 270 | 22 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senegal | 2012 | 5 | 0 |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
