Newly signed Kamara adds punch to attack
Vancouver trades two draft picks to add scoring punch with Kamara
The Vancouver Whitecaps continue to reshape their attacking lineup for 2018, making their second major move of the off-season, bringing in a powerful striker in Kei Kamara.
There are two things to consider with this big signing: the Caps are banking on Kamara to provide a top-notch scoring touch, and how his designated player status affects their decision-making going forward.
Kamara had been playing for the New England Revolution for the past two Major League Soccer seasons. The addition had been rumoured for a few days; Sunday was the opening of the MLS trade window.
Signing Kamara fits in well with how the Whitecaps set up their attack in 2017: lots of crosses into the box and a focus on dominating in the air.
“He’s a big body and he thrives off crosses,” coach Carl Robinson said about Kamara.
You may recall that the Whitecaps were interested in Kamara 1½ years ago, when many believed they were set to trade Octavio Rivero to the Columbus Crew for him.
But in a late-night topsy-turvy who-knows finale, Kamara ended up in New England.
To add Kamara, the Whitecaps traded their 2019 first-round SuperDraft pick and a conditional 2020 second-round SuperDraft pick. (If Kamara is traded to another MLS team before the 2018 roster freeze in September, that pick becomes a first-rounder.) If the Whitecaps happen to sell Kamara to an overseas club before the 2018 MLS roster freeze, New England will receive 50 per cent of the fee.
Given the Caps’ belief they’re going to finish high up the table in 2018, this is a bet that what they’re trading away is a draft pick that wouldn’t return much of a player anyway.
Kamara, 33, scored a dozen goals in each of the last two seasons, following an outstanding 22-goal return to MLS in 2015 with Columbus.
Originally from Sierra Leone, his family moved to the United States as refugees when he was 16. He’s spent most of his career in MLS, having been drafted by Columbus in 2006. He did spend parts of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons in England, playing for Norwich and then Middlesbrough.
Capped 25 times by Sierra Leone — he made his debut in 2008 — he’ll be a designated player but won’t count as an international player as he’s an American citizen.
That DP status isn’t a guarantee either, since he’s making $800,000 next year. That makes him, like Brek Shea, in range of having targeted allocation money applied to his salary, dropping him below the DP threshold and allowing the Caps to pick up another DP.
MONTERO DOOR STILL AJAR
To no surprise, adding Kamara likely ends the Caps’ pursuit of Fredy Montero. The team and the Colombian striker had hoped to stay together, but with a big fee being asked for by his Chinese club, Tianjin TEDA, that always seemed unlikely.
Rumours from Portugal suggest Sporting Lisbon are pursuing a renewal with Montero, who played there from 2013 to 2016.
Nonetheless, the Caps reportedly remain hopeful they can land another year of Montero on loan. Tianjin paid more than $7 million to sign Montero from Sporting in 2016 and now don’t really have a spot for him on their own roster.
But that also leaves Tianjin in a fix. If they can’t sell him to another club, they’ll be left on the hook for his salary and not able to play him, since they’re already committed to three other overseas players.
And that’s where the small chance that the Caps can bring him back for another year’s loan plays in.
THROW INS: LAFC gets to pluck five players off MLS rosters in an abbreviated expansion draft Tuesday.
The Whitecaps have protected 11 players while another seven homegrown and new signings were automatically exempt. Whitecaps still under contract and left available include Marcel de Jong, Bernie Ibini, Brek Shea and Cristian Techera.