Mohamed Buya Turay (/tʊˈreɪ/, tuu-RAY; born 10 January 1995) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a forward for USL Championship side Birmingham Legion FC.

[1][2] Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Turay began playing football on the streets, which led him to be scouted by FC Mattia, who signed him.

[3] But Patrick Mörk, an agent, was aware of his talent and contacted Juventus IF to sign him, leading an extension of his tourist visa, so he can play in Sweden.

[4] Despite this, Turay quickly made an impact in the club, scoring twenty goals in eleven matches at the end of the 2013 season.

[11] He quickly made an impact for the club against Östersunds FK in Svenska Cupen on 20 August 2014 and scored twice in a 3–1 win.

[16] The club wanted to sign him earlier this year but his player license resulted in him remaining with Västerås SK at the time.

[27] However in a match against Östersund on 23 April 2017, Turay received a straight red card at the last minutes for a foul on Dennis Widgren, as the club lost 3–1.

[28] After serving a two match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up against IFK Norrköping on 12 May 2017 and set up AFC Eskilstuna's only goal of the game, in a 2–1 loss.

[34] A month later on 25 September 2017, Turay set up AFC Eskilstuna's only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against IFK Göteborg.

[36] In a follow–up match against BK Häcken, however, he was sent–off in the 39th minute for an unprofessional foul on Rasmus Lindgren, as the club lost 3–0, in what turned out to be his last appearance.

[37] As a result of his four match suspension, AFC Eskilstuna were relegated back to Superettan after Jönköpings Södra IF defeated Kalmar 2–0, meaning the club could no longer reach the qualifying position.

Turay's performance continued to attract interests from clubs, both Sweden and around Europe, leading to making bids to sign him.

[41] It was announced on 23 March 2018 that Turay signed for newly promoted Allsvenskan side Dalkurd FF on a three–year contract.

[48] It was announced on 8 August 2018 that Turay joined Jupiler League side Sint-Truiden on a three–year contract with a reported undisclosed fee.

[57] Upon joining the club, he announced his intention to become the best player in the league and aim to help Djurgårdens IF lead their success.

[64] His performance led to transfer speculation that he could leave Djurgårdens IF in the summer but both the club's sporting Bo Andersson and the player, himself, dismissed this from happening.

[68] After serving a one match suspension, Turay returned to the starting line–up against Falkenberg on 24 September 2019 and scored the club's only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win.

[81] In a match against Beijing Sinobo Guoan, Turay set up two goals for Hebei China Fortune, as the club drew 3–3 on 15 September 2020.

His performance was praised by the Chinese media, stating: "After a season, Turay handed over a beautiful record of 6 goals and 5 assists.

"[85] After a disappointing stay at Danish Superliga club Odense Boldklub, where he managed to score three goals in 16 games in six months, Turay signed on January 30, 2024 with the American USL Championship side Birmingham Legion FC.

[88] Turay made his Sierra Leone debut, starting a match and played 61 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–0 loss against Ethiopia on 9 September 2018.

[90] He played in both legs of the World Cup qualifying round against Liberia, as Sierra Leone lost 3–2 on aggregate.

[3] Because his mother worked at school as a teacher, she, however, did not allow Buya play football, preferring her children to focus on education instead.

[3] Once his mother found out about his dream as a professional footballer, this led the pair to fall out, resulting in him moving out and lived in a city streets.

[94][85] During his time at Djurgårdens IF, teammate Edward Chilufya consider Turay to be his best friend and a brother to him, having taken care of him since they first met.