The transfer of Demba Ba to the West Ham stadium to close his signing was out of the ordinary. The former player has explained to The Athletic that, so that his transfer to West Ham would not be discovered, he had to get into the trunk of a car and have a friend drive him to the club. “They said they did not want journalists to find out, so I obeyed,” explained the Senegalese.
The uncomfortable journey was in 2011, when he left Hoffenheim and joined the English team, at a time when the club was fighting to avoid relegation. “It was like ‘boom boom’, I’m hitting my head at every corner”, has detailed Demba Ba. There he scored seven goals in 12 games, although they did not serve to prevent the club from descending. “It was a good dressing room, but in the end we didn’t have the necessary quality,” he admitted.
Six months later he signed for Newcastle, although his time at Chelsea, where he spent a year and a half, is better known. He announced his retirement a month ago after a final stage in Swiss Lugano.