From Merseyside schoolboy to Ocean Star: Jarma Mohamed’s uncommon route and what Somalia need from him now

In Takoradi this month, a 21-year-old who spends his weekends anchoring midfield for eighth-tier Jersey Bulls will line up for Somalia against four-time African champions Ghana. Jarma Mohamed’s recall for Afcon 2027 qualifying comes after the Ocean Stars pushed The Gambia and Ivory Coast to the last minutes in their opening Group C matches and now sit above Ghana on goal difference.

Mohamed is no ordinary non-league midfielder. He has Liverpool and Manchester City academy stripes, a two-year scholarship at Wigan on his CV, and a journey to Jersey sparked by a footballers’ networking app. “If you play the name or an occasion you’re losing before you’ve even kicked a ball,” he says of facing elite opposition. “You’re sharing the same pitch for a reason, it’s not by accident.”

Toxteth to the academies of Merseyside and Manchester

Born in Toxteth, Mohamed’s first football memory is as domestic chaos. “My mum was probably fed up with me just booting stuff in the house, so she got me involved as early as I could,” he told BBC Sport. “When I was three she was begging teams to take me because the age that you’re allowed is four.” An Everton scout noticed him and he began playing for Everton from four.

By his own account, those pre-academy years allowed cross-pollination. “At that age between four to nine you can play for a few teams. It was at Liverpool and Everton, eventually chose Liverpool at nine, then signed for Man City at 11.” Along the way he shared training grounds with names who would accelerate quickly: Jayden Danns at Liverpool, and England stars Rico Lewis and Nico O’Reilly at Manchester City.

That breadth matters now because Mohamed’s game has always mixed edge with craft. He is described as a “combative playmaker,” a profile that reads like a Liverpool schooling with City polish, and it is the same balance of ball-winning and progression that Somalia hope to lean on in a group crammed with pedigree.

A scholarship at Wigan, then the release that reset everything

Mohamed’s transition into the grind of full-time football came at Wigan Athletic. “I came out of Man City and got a scholarship at Wigan, which is one of the best memories of playing football,” he said. “Having a two-year deal, playing day-in, day-out, full-time schedule, staying in digs up in Wigan, travelling up and down the country for away games, performing, picking up the armband a few times, FA Youth Cup, things like that.”

The break came in 2024 when he was released by Wigan. The next stops were non-league stints with Bamber Bridge and Newcastle Town. It is the kind of reset many academy products face, and plenty stall there. Mohamed chose to move again — this time in a direction that would have sounded improbable on scholarship day one.

Jersey Bulls, a mobile app, and an island job that fits

The pivot came in the summer when Isthmian League South Central side Jersey Bulls spotted him on Player, an app Mohamed likens to “a LinkedIn for footballers.” “Jersey Bulls were on the app looking for players and, long story short, the owner of Player put me in contact with Jersey Bulls,” he explained. The club is amateur and “no-one gets paid,” so the move was structured around a job that met his qualifications. “We worked out a job that aligns with the things that I do, obviously me having Uefa C licence coaching is something that I’d easily do and I’ve come over and done it.”

He now works as a youth coach on the island while anchoring midfield for a Bulls side “riding high in the eighth tier of English football.” The detail that turns heads: Mohamed and his Jersey Bulls team-mates “have yet to lose a league game this season.” It is a platform for rhythm and responsibility that matches how Somalia see him — a player to steady, connect and compete.

Why Somalia? Heritage, a phone call, and a fire lit

The choice to represent Somalia traces back to family. Mohamed’s Somalian grandfather moved to Liverpool, part of a large Somali community in the city. That heritage opened the door to a national side ranked 200th in the world — “the lowest of any team to progress to Afcon 2027’s final round of qualifiers,” as the BBC notes.

His debut came in March against Mauritius, where the Ocean Stars reached the final qualifying stages for the first time in their history after two goalless draws and a penalties win. The call-up moment was disarmingly ordinary. “It was a random Wednesday afternoon in my kitchen and I was made up,” he said. “I could physically see the community close to home, and going out to the camp and experiencing what that’s like, it really lit a fire that I didn’t even know I could get as far as trying to push my football career.”

He is part of a group built around a global Somali diaspora. “Everyone’s from different parts of the world, you have lads who are Dutch, from Finland, Italy, there’s another scouse with me in the team,” he said. “When we’re all there, and even lads who are local and playing in the Somali league, everyone’s just one family… there’s no egos.” For Mohamed, that togetherness is the leveller.

Group C reality: late blows but a foothold above Ghana

Somalia have been competitive in their opening two Afcon 2027 qualifiers. The Gambia needed an 83rd-minute winner to edge their opener. Ivory Coast, with Real Madrid’s 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 seal a 2-0 defeat for Somalia.

The table context is stark yet encouraging. Somalia are second from bottom in Group C on goal difference, above a Ghana side who lost their opening two matches under Carlos Queiroz and now have Kim Bjorkegren in interim charge. Those Black Stars also drew 0-0 with England at the World Cup this summer, a reminder of the level in the group.

Because of the tense security situation at home, Somalia play all their qualifiers away and will meet Ghana in back-to-back fixtures in Takoradi. For a player used to “sparse crowds in small grounds in the area south of London,” as the BBC frames it, Mohamed’s answer is uncluttered: “You can only play what’s in front of you… you also have to back yourself.”

Role and style: combative, anchoring, and asked to lead

The label attached to him in England — “combative playmaker” — and his current brief with Jersey Bulls — “anchoring the midfield” — read like a template for what Somalia will ask next. Hold shape, win first contacts, connect lines, and refuse to be overawed by names. Mohamed has already set his mental register: “If you play the name or an occasion you’re losing before you’ve even kicked a ball.”

In a squad that he says has “no egos,” leadership is distributed, and he has worn responsibility before — at Wigan he recalls “picking up the armband a few times.” The immediate assignment against Ghana is simpler than any grand tactical rewrite: reproduce the togetherness that kept games within a kick against The Gambia and Ivory Coast, help Somalia manage pressure moments better, and bank something tangible from Takoradi. Given the arc so far, any result that keeps them above Ghana would count as progress; a point or more would validate the decision to recall a player who anchors Jersey Bulls’ midfield.

What comes next in Takoradi

Somalia’s back-to-back against Ghana arrives with two truths in view: the Ocean Stars have competed to the final minutes, and their group remains heavy with title winners. Ghana’s interim head coach Kim Bjorkegren is trying to arrest a slide that began under Carlos Queiroz; the Black Stars still carry the aura of a team who went toe-to-toe with England in a 0-0 draw at the World Cup. The ask of Mohamed is to make those reputations irrelevant for 90 minutes at a time.

He has already put the target plainly. “If you come to do nothing less than that you may as well stay home,” he says of qualifying. “If you come to play for the experience or ‘we’re just happy to be there’, then there’s no point in coming.” In a campaign that has already forced Somalia abroad for every kick, that conviction is more than words. It is the posture his team will need in Takoradi — and the role he has been recalled to play.