Exciting Nigerian winger Sani Buhari will continue his European adventure with Spanish side Real Valladolid after signing a two-year deal with the Segunda Division club.
The move happened nearly two months ago, but officials only unveiled the 22-year-old on Wednesday after they finally resolved issues surrounding his visa and work permit. The delay forced Buhari to briefly return to Nigeria while they completed the documentation process before he flew back to Spain to join his new teammates.
Buhari’s transfer to Valladolid required several steps behind the scenes. The versatile winger had to cancel his existing contract with Armenian side FC Pyunik, where he still had a year left on his deal, in order to complete the move to Spain.
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In an exclusive interview with Footy-Africa, Usman Alfa, who manages the player, explained how the opportunity with Valladolid first came about.
“He was discovered through my brother Yakubu Alfa who played for Nigeria at U-17 level,” Alfa said. “He works with a few scouts and agents, and there is one he started working with recently named Ibrahim Moukthar Balde, who is based in France but spent time in Spain.”
“He saw some of Buhari’s clips when he was at Pyunik and decided to find him a club, and that was how the deal with Valladolid came with the help and collaboration of Kelechi Nnorom of Right2Win – a great guy.”
Alfa also revealed that Buhari eventually joined the Spanish club on a free transfer after his agreement with Pyunik was cancelled.
“We had to cancel his deal with Pyunik because he still had about a year left. In the end, he went to Valladolid as a free agent,” he explained.
According to Alfa, the winger had already signed his contract weeks earlier, but administrative delays slowed down the announcement.
“He signed about two months ago, but we had visa and documentation issues. He had to come back to Nigeria before the visa and work permit came out for him to return to Spain,” he added.
Alfa believes Buhari has the quality to break eventually into Nigeria’s national teams if he continues developing in Spain.
“He is a very good player, and I am sure he can play for Nigeria, even if it is the U-23 team first. He has the skillset to go far and he models his game after former Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa,” Alfa said.
“Buhari is a winger, a very fast winger. He can play from the left or right depending on what the coach wants. Sometimes he even played as a wing-back in Armenia.”
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Buhari began his career in Nigeria before moving to Europe in the 2022/23 season to join FC Van in the Armenian First Division.
During his two seasons there, he made 50 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals and providing two assists.
Last season he moved to FC Pyunik, where he scored his first goal in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers and added three more goals and two assists in domestic competitions.
He is expected to start with the reserve team, Real Valladolid Promesas, with a view to promotion the first team next season.
