He played only 12 games for West Ham and despite being their league top goal scorer in the 2010–11 season, they were relegated to the Championship and Ba moved to Newcastle United.

Born and raised in France, Ba was a full international for Senegal from 2007 to 2015 and represented the country at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

[5] Later that year, after unsuccessful trials at Lyon and Auxerre,[5] Ba moved to the United Kingdom to seek a professional contract.

In response, Hoffenheim's general manager said his contract would be cancelled, he would face legal action, and he would be fined and prevented from moving to another club for six months.

[10][11] The club also later claimed he travelled to England without permission in order to force a move, which they reluctantly agreed needs to happen due to Ba's actions.

He signed a three-year contract on 28 January, on a pay as you play basis due to knee problems found in the Stoke medical.

He turned down a £50,000-a-week salary plus a bonus payment of £500,000 in order to stay in the Premier League with another club, triggering interest from both Everton and Newcastle United.

[17][24] On 17 June 2011, Ba signed for Newcastle United on a three-year deal,[25] making his club debut on 13 August 2011 in the 0–0 draw against Arsenal.

He left for the tournament on a high note, scoring the first in a 3–0 home win over Manchester United on 4 January 2012, the team's first victory against the league champions in over a decade.

In the 32nd minute of the match Ba had a chance to open the scoring but his initial attempt on goal was saved by Newcastle keeper Tim Krul.

[59] On 8 April 2014, Ba scored an 87th-minute goal in the Champions League quarter-final second-leg against Paris Saint-Germain to send Chelsea through to the semi-finals.

[62] Having only scored 14 goals since his arrival in January 2013, Ba fell behind fellow strikers Samuel Eto'o and Fernando Torres, having spent most of the season being on the sidelines.

[63] After the arrival of Diego Costa in the summer, Chelsea decided to allow Ba to search for a new club despite his intention to stay for the 2014–15 season.

[67] Ba made his official competitive debut for the club against Feyenoord in the first-leg of third qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, coming on as a substitute for Oğuzhan Özyakup in the 59th minute, as the match ended 2–1 for Beşiktaş.

[68][69] In the second-leg in Istanbul, which was the first time he was in the starting eleven, Ba scored three goals, marking his first hat-trick with the Turkish club in which ended 3–1.

[70][71][72] On 19 August, Ba tried a straight shot right after the kick-off, which was saved by Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczęsny at Play-off Round first leg, which ended 0–0.

[73] Ba made a great start to Turkish top flight and scored eight times in 10 games for Besiktas over the first twelve weeks of the season.

[citation needed] On 28 June 2015, it was confirmed that Ba had signed a three-year deal with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.

[74] He made his debut on 11 July, starting in a 1–1 draw at Tianjin Teda, and scored his first goal four days later in a 3–1 home win over Beijing Guoan.

[76] In Ba's second season at Shanghai Shenhua, he scored 14 goals in 18 Super League games, including hat-tricks in wins against Shijiazhuang Ever Bright on 3 April 2016, and Hangzhou Greentown on 19 June.

[85] In January 2019, Ba terminated his contract with Shenhua by mutual consent and joined Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir.

[89] On 8 December 2020, Ba was involved in a racism row with Romanian referee Sebastian Colțescu, who was the fourth official during a Champions League match between Başakşehir and Paris Saint-Germain.

[90] On 19 June 2021, Ba signed a one-year contract for Swiss Super League club FC Lugano on a free transfer.

In 2013, He refused, like Papiss Cissé, Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheick Tioté, to wear Newcastle United's new sponsor Wonga.com's name on their shirts because it is a payday loan firm.

But to wear the inscription "Je suis Charlie", I would not have done it.In 2017, Ba brought with Nicolas Anelka funding to an association created by Kémi Séba, a Pan-Africanist and anti-colonial activist with several convictions for anti-Semitism.

[99] On 26 June 2017, Ba co-founded with Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sow an expansion North American Soccer League franchise, San Diego 1904 FC, to begin playing in 2018.