Jarma Mohamed: From Premier League academies to Somalia's Afcon quest via Jersey Bulls

Somalia midfielder Jarma Mohamed has been recalled for his country's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana this month, BBC Sport reported, capping a year in which the 21-year-old Liverpudlian went from being released by Wigan to playing eighth-tier English football with Jersey Bulls and making his international debut.

Mohamed's route into the game began unusually early. He told BBC Sport that his mother, tired of him kicking things around the house, pushed to get him involved before he was old enough, and a scout who saw him playing turned out to be from Everton. He was with Everton from the age of four, also spent time at Liverpool during the period when young players could represent more than one club, and chose Liverpool at nine before signing for Manchester City at 11. He later took up a scholarship at Wigan, which he described as one of his best football memories: a two-year deal, a full-time daily schedule, living in digs, travelling the country for away games, captaining the side on occasion and playing in the FA Youth Cup. BBC Sport noted he featured alongside Jayden Danns at Liverpool and Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly at Manchester City.

Wigan released him in 2024, and he moved into non-league football with Bamber Bridge and Newcastle Town. By the summer his career had reached a crossroads. Jersey Bulls, an Isthmian League South Central side, found him through an app run by a company called Player, which Mohamed likened to a LinkedIn for footballers and which puts players in front of clubs. The company's owner connected him with Jersey Bulls. Mohamed said he knew the club was amateur and nobody was paid, so they arranged a job that fitted his skills, drawing on his Uefa C coaching licence; he now works as a youth coach on the island while anchoring the midfield of a Jersey Bulls side that BBC Sport said had not lost a league game this season.

His Somalia eligibility comes through his grandfather, who moved to Liverpool as part of the city's large Somali community; Mohamed was born in Toxteth. He made his debut against Mauritius in March as Somalia reached the final qualifying stage for Afcon for the first time, beating the island nation on penalties after two goalless draws. He recalled being in his kitchen on a random Wednesday afternoon when he was first asked to join the squad, saying he was made up, and that seeing the community close to home and experiencing the camp lit a fire he had not known he could use to push his career.

The squad draws more players from the global diaspora than from Somalia itself. Mohamed said the group includes Dutch, Finnish and Italian players as well as another Scouser, and that local players from the Somali league are part of the same family, with no egos and a shared desire to get results for the country. Somalia are ranked 200th in the world, the lowest of any team to reach Afcon's final qualifying round, and have been drawn with three-time champions Ivory Coast, Gambia and four-time winners Ghana, who drew 0-0 with England in the group stage of this summer's World Cup and are managed by former Real Madrid boss Carlos Queiroz.

In their first two qualifiers Somalia were beaten narrowly. Gambia scored an 83rd-minute winner in the opening game, and an Ivory Coast side featuring Real Madrid summer signing Yan Diomande, Atalanta's Franck Kessie and former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe scored in the 89th minute and the fifth minute of added time to win 2-0. Somalia sit second from bottom of the group on goal difference from Ghana, who have lost their opening two matches. Because of the tense security situation in Somalia, the Ocean Stars have played all their qualifiers away from home and will face Ghana in back-to-back matches in Accra.

Mohamed said he approaches those games the same way as any other, arguing that playing the name or the occasion means losing before kicking a ball. He said opponents' levels and qualities must be respected but that players must back themselves, since sharing the same pitch is not by accident. Asked whether Somalia can reach next summer's tournament in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, he said anyone who comes to do less than that may as well stay home, pointing to the performances against Ivory Coast and Gambia as proof the side can compete, and adding that there is no point turning up merely for the experience or to be happy just to be there.