Buy one for one? Manchester City s young central defender rented Lyon for one year for free. The conditions were agreed upon when signing Cherki

In the early morning of June 21, famous reporter Romano confirmed that Manchester City's young central defender Jumaba will join Lyon on a free loan. And this is a condition that Manchester City had agreed upon when signing Sherkey. This buying one for one is also an important reason why Manchester City maintains a good relationship with many clubs.

Jumaba, born in April 2006, is only 19 years old and comes from Valladolid youth training in Spain. He was promoted to the first team last season and made 13 appearances, and averaged 0.8 steals, 1.00 interceptions and 4.92 clearances per game. His performance is still remarkable. In January 2025, Manchester City paid 6 million euros transfer fees to sign Jumaba and then loaned him to Lens. In the half season in Ligue 1, Jumaba played 8 starts in 10 games, and averaged 1.60 steals, 1.60 interceptions and 4.70 clearances per game, sent 377 passes and 2 key passes, with a passing success rate of up to 94%, and her performance was still remarkable.

It is worth mentioning that the main reason why Manchester City loaned Jumaba to Lens was that they signed Uzbekistan central defender Husanov from Lens last winter window. Buying Jumaba and sending it to Lance not only gained a young player with great potential, but also gave him enough opportunities to play, and also made up for Lance's defense vacancy, which was a three-killing victory in one fell swoop.

This summer, Manchester City signed Lyon midfielder core Serky for 36.5 million euros to make up for the vacancy of captain De Bruyne's departure. In return, Manchester City promised to rent a player to Lyon when signing the transfer contract. At first, Lyon wanted to get Oscar Bob or Husanov, but Manchester City was unwilling to let him go. Afterwards, Lyon also considered introducing James McCarty or Echeviri, but eventually chose Jumaba, which was widely supported within the Lyon club.

Of course, Lyon's loan introduction of Jumaba was also a decision after careful consideration. The 19-year-old Sierra Leone central defender has been selected for the national team and has made two starts in the African qualifiers. He is 1.95 meters tall and has excellent physical fitness. In addition, as a central defender, Jumaba also has strong psychological qualities and certain footwork skills, and can complete the task of carrying the ball and achieving offensive and defensive transformation in the game. Although the young central defender's skills still need to be meticulously crafted due to his age, there is no doubt that he has the qualities and potential to grow into a top central defender.

Lyon obviously knows Jumaba's strength very well. In the 32nd round of Ligue 1 last season, Lens defeated Lyon 2-1 away. Jumaba started the game and contributed the highest 12 clearances in the game. In addition, there were 2 steals and 3 interceptions, winning 5 top-ups and 2 ground-to-ground confrontations, with a success rate of up to 100%. In the 25th round of the away game against Marseille in the French Ligue 1, Jumaba contributed the highest 11 clearances, and sent 3 steals and 2 interceptions, helping Lens defeat the strong opponent 1-0 away.

Last season, Lyon conceded 46 goals in 34 Ligue 1, making it the second most goals among the top 8 teams. After Jumaba, their weak defense should be greatly improved. In the future, Lyon can also discuss with Manchester City to buy out Jumaba forever. Anyway, there are a lot of central defenders in the latter, and there is no shortage of this one.