Green Street Hammers
Fansided

West Ham must act now to sign Kamara at bargain price: Analysis

By Alex Smith

Marseille's French defender Boubacar Kamara gestures during the French L1 football match between Marseille and Saint-Etienne at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, southern France on August 28, 2021. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Marseille's French defender Boubacar Kamara gestures during the French L1 football match between Marseille and Saint-Etienne at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, southern France on August 28, 2021. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 2
Next

Scouting West Ham target Boubacar Kamara

Statistically, Kamara has outstanding numbers, he completes 89.6% of passes, wins 1.5 aerial duels per game and has been in the top 10 players in Ligue 1 for tackles and successful pressures across the last three seasons. His stats are comparable to the likes of Sergio Busquets of Barcelona, Oriol Romeu of Southampton and Idrissa Gueye of PSG. (Data via fbref.com)

His strengths are his positional awareness, he is known for being an excellent decision maker via constantly scanning the pitch, As a result, he makes the correct choices on whether to press an opponent or cut the passing lane to him – this is something Rice does excellently too.

As the stats show, he is also a great tackler making 2.74 per 90 minutes as well as being a strong passer over short and medium distances, his numbers for long passes are okay but could be better.

The area of his game he needs to improve is his dribbling. Unlike Rice, who said recently that he is hoping to guide West Ham into the Champions League, Kamara is not a great ball carrier in terms of distance. You won’t see him run with the ball into the attacking third often something Rice does so well.

MARSEILLE, FRANCE – OCTOBER 24: Kylian Mbappe of PSG, Boubacar Kamara of Marseille (left) during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Olympique Marseille (OM) and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Stade Velodrome on October 24, 2021 in Marseille, France. (Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)
MARSEILLE, FRANCE – OCTOBER 24: Kylian Mbappe of PSG, Boubacar Kamara of Marseille (left) during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Olympique Marseille (OM) and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Stade Velodrome on October 24, 2021 in Marseille, France. (Photo by John Berry/Getty Images) /

Also, he isn’t as much of an attacking threat as Soucek, he only averages one goal a season. The former French Under-21 man is very much a sitting midfielder who breaks up play well but can get better by adding some more attacking thrust to his game. He could do with a bit more athleticism too as he isn’t the quickest.

However, his injury record is fantastic missing just six games due to injury since 2018 and clearly has a great attitude as he sometimes Marseille captain despite being a young player.

He is comparable to the fellow highly-rated midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni of Monaco, who Manchester United are interested in.

West Ham had big success signing a player from Marseille last time, the unforgettable Dimitri Payet and Moyes would be wise to bring in Kamara. There are some limitations to his game but there is no doubting his quality and at 22, he has his best years ahead of him. With a strong French speaking contingent at West Ham, there is no doubt he’d feel at home in no time.

Next. West Ham in for Alexis Sanchez!. dark