Muhammed Cray Badamosi

Bandinho's route to Riga began 200 kilometres south, in a season loan spell at Abha in Saudi Arabia where he scored six times in fifteen appearances. That move to Romania barely had time to settle before Riga FC came in during January, and in the months since, Muhammed Badamosi has turned into one of the league's leading scorers.

The Gambian forward's path there was long. He started out at Jolakunda before moving into senior football with Real de Banjul, then crossed into Senegal with Olympique de Ngor. A switch to FUS Rabat in Morocco followed, and from there to Belgium, where he spent three seasons with KV Kortrijk. It was a loan to Serbia, though, that changed the shape of his career: at Čukarički in 2022/23 he was named the Mozzart Bet Super Liga's player of the ninth round, part of a scoring run productive enough that the Serbian club made the move permanent the following year.

What followed was a stretch of loans — to Al-Hazem in Saudi Arabia, to Standard Liège in Belgium, then back to Saudi Arabia with Abha — before Cluj brought him in outright. He barely featured in Romania before Riga signed him in January.

At Riga, wearing number 19, Badamosi has made an immediate mark. Across 23 appearances in all competitions this season he has scored 17 goals and added four assists in the Virslīga alone, with further appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League, the UEFA Champions League, the Latvian Cup and the Latvian Super Cup, where he scored. Riga currently sit second in the Virslīga and have gone 15 matches unbeaten.