Former Premier League striker Demba Ba had a successful career in England’s top flight, playing for West Ham, Newcastle, and Chelsea. Ba scored seven goals in 12 league appearances for West Ham, but could not prevent them from relegation. He then joined Newcastle on a free transfer in 2011 and quickly established himself as a deadly finisher, scoring eight goals in his first 11 league appearances for the club. Ba helped Newcastle to an impressive fifth-place finish in the 2011/12 season and continued his good scoring form in the following season, with 13 league goals in just 20 games.
Ba moved to Chelsea in January 2013 for a fee of £7million and scored two goals on his debut in a 5-1 win against Southampton at St Mary’s in the FA Cup. He also scored a stunning acrobatic goal in the FA Cup quarter-final replay against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, helping the Blues to a 1-0 win. However, Ba struggled for game time under Jose Mourinho during the 2013/14 season and was eventually sold to Turkish side Besiktas.
Ba scored 18 league goals in his first season with Besiktas but was soon on the move again, this time to Shanghai Shenhua in China. He suffered a broken leg during his second season with the club but returned to competitive action after successful surgery. Ba re-joined Besiktas on loan in January 2017, helping them to win the league title. After a short spell with Turkish club Goztepe S.K. in 2018, he returned to Shanghai before joining Istanbul Basaksehir, where he won the second Turkish league title of his career.
Since retiring from football, Ba has worked as chairman of North American football team Albion San Diego and was previously part-owner of San Diego 1904. He was asked by Ralf Rangnick to join him on the coaching staff at Manchester United in 2021, but his Visa was not accepted, and he was not able to join.