Mohamed Buya Turay (, ; born 10 January 1995) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danish Superliga side OB.
Club career
Early career
Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Turay began playing football on the streets, which led him to be scouted by FC Mattia, who signed him. According to Turay, he said: "one of the club's coaches gave him bus money so he could go to training. But I ran to training instead. I was small and needed to train to get stronger. I took the money and bought food for the family." His performance attracted by Academie Sante Marie De Dixinn (an academy based in Guinea), who scouted and offered him a contract, but FC Mattia refused. Turay, once again, was scouted by Academy Director Numukeh Tunkara, who then took him to Sweden for a trial. Initially, his trial at Vasalunds wasn't a positive one, as the club's management felt he wasn't good enough. As a result, Turay travelled to Nigeria to have another trial. But Patrick Mörk, an agent, was aware of his talent and contacted Juventus IF to sign him, leading an extension of his tourist visa, so he can play in Sweden. When Turay first arrived in Sweden, he struggled in the country with no food to eat and had to rely from his agent to drive him anywhere he went. Despite this, Turay quickly made an impact in the club, scoring twenty goals in eleven matches at the end of the 2013 season. This resulted in him seeing interest from clubs such as Standard Liège, Gefle IF and Assyriska. The 2014 season saw Turay continuing to make an impact, making fourteen appearances and scoring twelve times. Throughout his time at Juventus IF, he went on to make twenty–five appearances and scoring thirty–two times.
In August 2014, Turay joined Västerås SK. However, the move was disputed as there was a disagreement between Juventus IF and Västerås SK over the transfer move. As a result, the agreement resulted in him joining the club on loan, though Västerås SK sports manager Ado Sadzak opinioned that the loan agreement should not have existed as it's not possible to loan a player when they have no contract. He quickly made an impact for the club against Östersunds FK in Svenska Cupen on 20 August 2014 and scored twice in a 3–1 win. Turay went on to score four more goals, coming between 4 October 2014 and 18 October 2014. With his playing time coming from the substitute bench by the time 2014 season ended, he went on to make nine appearances and scoring six times in all competitions for Västerås SK. Following this, Turay left Västerås SK.
AFC United/AFC Eskilstuna
On 19 August 2015, it was announced that Turay joined Superettan side AFC United. The club wanted to sign him earlier this year but his player license resulted in him remaining with Västerås SK at the time. He made his debut for AFC United, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute, in a 0–0 draw against Mjällby on 23 August 2015. Turay later made two more appearances, both coming as a substitute later in the 2015 season.
At the start of the 2016 season, Turay began to establish himself in the first team as AFC United's first choice striker. He then scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 win against Assyriska on 11 May 2016. Two weeks later on 29 May 2016, Turay scored a hat–trick for AFC United, in a 3–1 win against Syrianska. He later scored six more goals later in the 2016 season, including a brace against Degerfors on 27 September 2016. Turay later helped the club reach promotion to the top–flight league next season. At the end of the 2016 season, he went on to make thirty–three appearances and scoring ten times in all competitions. Following this, Turay signed a three year contract extension with AFC United. It came after his performance attracted interests from clubs, both Sweden and around Europe.