Baba Rahman

Abdul Rahman Baba (born 2 July 1994), also known as Baba Rahman, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Greek club PAOK, on loan from Chelsea, and the Ghana national team.

Baba Rahman
Rahman with Schalke 04 in 2018
Personal information
Full name Abdul Rahman Baba[1]
Date of birth (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994[2]
Place of birth Tamale, Ghana[3]
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Left-back
Club information
Current team
 PAOK
(on loan from Chelsea)
Number 21
Youth career
2004–2010 Young Meteors Tamale
2010–2011 Dreams FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 → Asante Kotoko (loan) 25 (0)
2012–2014 Greuther Fürth 44 (2)
2014–2015 FC Augsburg 31 (0)
2015– Chelsea 15 (0)
2016–2017 → Schalke 04 (loan) 13 (0)
2018–2019 → Schalke 04 (loan) 3 (0)
2019 → Reims (loan) 11 (1)
2019–2020 → Mallorca (loan) 2 (0)
2021– → PAOK (loan) 0 (0)
National team‡
2013 Ghana U20[3] 7 (0)
2014– Ghana 28 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:01, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:58, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

Beginning his career at Dreams FC, he played in the Ghanaian Premier League with Asante Kotoko. In 2012, he signed for Bundesliga club Greuther Fürth, where he spent two seasons. He then played for FC Augsburg before joining Chelsea in 2015 for a fee of £14 million, potentially rising to £22 million.

Rahman made his international debut in 2014 and was part of their squad which were runners-up at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

Ghana

Rahman began his career at Dreams FC of the Ghana Division Two. After impressive performances, he was then transferred on loan to Asante Kotoko of the Ghanaian Premier League for one season.[4]

For the 2012 season, Rahman was a finalist for the league's Discovery of the Year Award, eventually losing to Joshua Oniku.[5] After becoming a sought after player during his time with the Kumasi-based club, serious enquiries were made about the player by Manchester City and Arsenal of the Premier League and Parma of Serie A.[6]

Germany
Rahman with Greuther Fürth in 2012

However, Rahman eventually signed with newly promoted Greuther Fürth in the Bundesliga on 12 June 2012. Rahman stated that his decision to join Fürth was because the club offered, "the best conditions in which to develop my career."[4] In the derby against 1. FC Nürnberg on 11 August 2014 he scored his first two goals for Fürth in a 5–1 home victory.[7] The next day he signed with FC Augsburg of the same division.[8]

In Rahman's 2014–15 season with Augsburg, he made 108 tackles, more than any other player in the Bundesliga that season. Using aspects of his strength and pace, he was able to win 90 of those tackles, coming out to an 83% successful tackle rate. That season, Rahman also had 83 interceptions and won 80 contested aerial balls.[9]

2015–16 season

On 16 August 2015, Rahman signed for Chelsea on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee, reported to be an initial £14 million, rising to a potential fee of almost £22 million.[10][11][12][13] He made his debut on 16 September in a UEFA Champions League tie, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–0 win at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv.[14] He made his Premier League debut in a 2–0 win over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on 17 October.[15] He played at left-back in games including their 2–1 Champions League win over Dynamo Kyiv.

Baba Rahman playing for Chelsea in 2016

On 27 February, Rahman made an error which allowed Southampton's Shane Long to score in the 42nd minute; he was substituted for Kenedy at half time but Chelsea eventually won 2–1 at St. Mary's.[16]

Schalke 04 (loan)

On 2 August 2016, FC Schalke 04 confirmed that Rahman had moved on a season-long loan to the club after failing to impress the new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte during pre-season. Rahman was given the number 14 jersey for the upcoming season. He was signed by his former Augsburg manager, Markus Weinzierl.[17][18] Rahman told the local newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten that Conte advised him to leave on loan because he preferred more defensive players than him.[19]

Rahman made his competitive debut for the Gelsenkirchen team on 20 August, as a winger instead of a defender in a 4–1 victory against FC 08 Villingen in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.[20] He made his league debut on 27 August, coming on for Sead Kolašinac in the 62nd minute of an eventual 1–0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt on the first day of the season.[21] Rahman scored his first goal for Schalke on 15 September, the game's only in a Europa League victory at OGC Nice.[22]

In January 2018, Rahman joined Schalke 04 on loan for a second time agreeing an 18-month stay until summer 2019.[23][24]

Reims (loan)

In January 2019, he returned early to Chelsea and was immediately loaned to Stade de Reims until the end of the season.[25]

Mallorca (loan)

On 2 September 2019, the last day of transfer window, Rahman was again loaned out in a season-long deal, this time to newly promoted La Liga side Mallorca.[26]

International career

Rahman played every minute of Ghana's campaign at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, providing the cross from which André Ayew headed in the winner against South Africa to win Group C.[27] In the final against the Ivory Coast, Rahman scored in the penalty shootout in which his team lost 9–8.[28]

Personal life

Rahman has "Baba" on the back of his jersey, the name of his Chelsea-supporting father.[29] In May 2016, Rahman married his longtime childhood girlfriend, Selma, in their hometown of Tamale in northern Ghana.[30]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played on 21 January 2020[31]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Greuther Fürth 2012–13 Bundesliga20010———210
2013–14 2.Bundesliga22010——2[lower-alpha 1]0250
2014–15 2.Bundesliga2200———22
Total 44220——20482
FC Augsburg 2014–15 Bundesliga31000———310
2015–16 Bundesliga0010———10
Total 31010———320
Chelsea 2015–16 Premier League15020204000230
Schalke 04 (loan) 2016–17 Bundesliga13020—61—211
2017–18 Bundesliga1000———10
2018–19 Bundesliga2010—10—40
Total 16030—71—261
Reims (loan) 2018–19 Ligue 11110000——111
Mallorca (loan) 2019–20 La Liga2030———50
PAOK (loan) 2020–21 Super League Greece0000———00
Career total 119311020111201454
  1. Appearances in Bundesliga play-offs

International
As of 15 July 2019.[32]
Ghana
YearAppsGoals
201450
2015110
201680
201710
201800
201930
Total280

Honors

International

Ghana

References
  1. "Abdul Rahman Baba". schalke04.de. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  2. "Premier League Player Profile Baba Basir". Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. "Abdul Rahman Baba". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  4. "German club Greuther Furth beats Arsenal to sign Rahman". MTN Football. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  5. "Daniel Nii Adjei wins Player of the Season Award". GhanaWeb. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  6. "Arsenal, Man City deals loom for Kotoko left-back Abdul-Rahman". GhanaSoccerNet. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  7. "Doppelpacker Baba lässt das Kleeblatt tanzen". kicker.de. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  8. "Baba-Wechsel zum FCA perfekt". kicker.de. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  9. "Chelsea transfer news: Who is Baba Rahman?". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  10. "Baba Rahman moves to Stamford Bridge from Augsburg". BBC Sport. 16 August 2015.
  11. "Rahman signs". Chelsea FC. 16 August 2015.
  12. "Baba moves to Chelsea". FC Augsburg. 16 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  13. Dudko, James (16 August 2015). "Baba Rahman Completes Transfer to Chelsea from Augsburg". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  14. "Chelsea 4-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv". BBC Sport. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  15. Dawkes, Phil (17 October 2015). "Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  16. Sanghera, Mandeep (27 February 2016). "Southampton 1-2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  17. "Baba makes Schalke switch". www.chelseafc.com. Chelsea F.C. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  18. "Abdul Rahman Baba joins S04 on loan". www.schalke04.de. FC Schalke 04. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  19. Buczko, Stefan (3 August 2016). "Baba Rahman 'too attacking' for Chelsea manager Antonio Conte". ESPN.
  20. "Villingen 1-4 Schalke 04". Soccerway. 20 August 2016.
  21. "Frankfurt hold on to beat Schalke". Bundesliga. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  22. https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/noblmd3-0sg-nice-0-1-fc-schalke-04-report.jsp
  23. Cann, James (29 January 2018). "Chelsea left-back Baba Rahman joins Schalke on 18-month loan". Irish Independent. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  24. "Bis 2019: Schalke leiht Baba erneut aus". kicker Online (in German). 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  25. "Baba Rahman loaned to Reims". Chelsea FC. 29 January 2019.
  26. "Abdul Rahman Baba Joins RCD Mallorca On Loan From Chelsea". RCD Mallorca. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  27. "South Africa 1-2 Ghana". BBC Sport. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  28. Smith, Alan (8 February 2015). "Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations on penalties – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  29. Perrin, Charles (19 August 2015). "Revealed: Chelsea new boy Baba Rahman explains decision behind choosing shirt name". Daily Express. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  30. "Baba Rahman Marries Childhood Girlfriend Salma". GhanaStar. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  31. Baba Rahman at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  32. Baba Rahman at National-Football-Teams.com
  33. Hughes, Ian (8 February 2015). "Ivory Coast 0–0 Ghana". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 September 2019.


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