This January, Callum Goodall and Jack Elderton have gotten together to profile one player a day from a list of players that West Ham could sign throughout the transfer window.
Callum Goodall is a data and recruitment specialist who you may know from his radar charts and megathreads on Twitter where he has produced an excellent scouting series taking a look at players that West Ham could, or should, invest in. We’re lucky to have him for now before he’s snapped up by the club itself.
Jack Elderton is a performance analyst who has taken over production of the recently renewed KUMB Podcast. Here you can find Cal and Jack talking in more depth about West Ham’s form, tactics and transfers each week alongside our match reporter Chris “Wilko1304” Wilkerson.
Listen back to the latest episode here.
Boubacar Kamara is a French defensive midfielder currently playing for Olympique Marseille in Ligue 1. He has made 24 appearances in all competitions so far this season and scored one goal.
Originally making his debut from right-back in a December 2016 Coupe de la Ligue match against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, Boubacar Kamara has since risen through the ranks to become a key player for Marseille.
Born into a family of OM fans, Kamara initially joined the Marseille academy at the age of six becoming a regular fixture for the second team at just 16. His first real run of appearances for the first team then came a year later when deputising at centre-back at the tailend of the 2017-18 season. And he clearly did enough in this brief spell to convince then-manager Rudi Garcia of his talent as Kamara would be selected for most of the following season as a starter.
An excellent ball-distributor and shielder, it would only be after André Villas-Boas’ arrival in Southern France two years later that Kamara would get a chance to play in defensive midfield. And after being afforded this opportunity, Kamara quickly grew beyond Marseille.
Now regarded as one of the most talented young defensive midfielders in Europe, Kamara has entered the final six months of his contract and given that L’OM will be banned from making transfers as of next season, Kamara may have decided that it’s time to move on. Manchester United have been closely linked this January, and given their issues in defensive midfield with neither Scott McTominay or Fred being truly comfortable at six, it’s easy to see why. Kamara would offer much greater security in front of a defensive unit that has often creaked under pressure in the Premier League so far this season. But why would West Ham be interested?
With Mark Noble calling time on his career at the end of the season and a permanent deal for Alex Král looking increasingly unlikely given the Czech’s limited game time, David Moyes will be down to just the two central midfielders next season: Declan Rice and Tomáš Souček. And with speculation continuing about a possible move for Rice to either Manchester City or Chelsea in the summer, there’s a growing need to regenerate the defensive midfield area with new young talent. Kamara would seem to be the perfect target.
Rather remarkably, Kamara is actually outperforming Rice defensively this season, engaging in more defensive duels (6.84 > 6.38) whilst boasting a superior success rate (64.3% > 61%), and recording more interceptions per 90 when adjusted for possession (6.8 > 6.1). When you consider that Rice is a player who has built a reputation as an elite ball-winning midfielder who excels at pouncing on loose balls and stray passes, it really puts Kamara’s exceptional defensive abilities into perspective. Whilst this is obviously impressive in its own right, it’s even more exciting when considered in the context of West Ham’s midfield; Kamara would clearly be more than capable of playing as our screening midfielder which would then give Rice and Souček the licence to get forward.
Tasking Kamara with sitting deep while Rice gets further forward would make perfect sense, not only because he’s a better defender but also because it would allow us to get the most out of Rice who could trigger the press further up the pitch. Whilst this would undoubtedly allow us to play with more aggression and win possession in the opposition half, it would also allow Rice, who is by far the better and more frequent dribbler, to utilise his ball-carrying ability. So far this season, Rice has attempted an average of 2.4 dribbles per 90 with an impressive success rate of 71.2%, a considerably better return than Kamara who has attempted 1.66 dribbles and succeeded just 50% of the time. This superior dribbling ability has seen Rice blossom into an elite ball-carrier this season and he is currently averaging the second highest number of progressive runs per 90 (3.1) amongst all central midfielders in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues, second only to Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde (4). With that phenomenal return in mind, it goes without saying that Rice has completed more progressive runs than Kamara (1), but bringing in the Frenchman could truly unleash Rice’s attacking potential.
Even if Kamara were the better ball-carrier, there wouldn’t be much reason to let him venture too far into the opposition half because he wouldn’t offer any more than Rice or Souček. In terms of shooting, both Rice (38.1%) and Souček (32.3%) have proven to be much more accurate shooters than Kamara (13.3%) this season. Of course, midfielders can still make valuable contributions in the final third without shooting, but Kamara wouldn’t provide any improvement in chance creation either, averaging an almost identical number of shot assists (0.44 > 0.43) as Rice. Taking this into account alongside the fact that Rice is a better shooter and ball-carrier, it is clear that Kamara’s role would be to sit in front of the defence.
And that’s fine, because sitting deep suits Kamara, not only because he’s one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe, but because he’s also proven himself to be an accomplished distributor from deep. Obviously Rice carries a massive portion of load in terms of distribution at West Ham, with a huge percentage of our transitions being instigated or carried by Rice. There aren’t many players who could take this weight on their shoulders but Kamara has played a similar role in Jorge Sampaoli’s Marseille side, recording more total passes (72.6 > 52.4), passes to the final third (9.6 > 7.1), and progressive passes (7.4 > 6.2) per 90 than Rice has this season.
The fact that Kamara is no stranger to taking on the role of primary distributor would bode well for West Ham, not only because he could successfully play alongside or deputise for Rice, but also because he could make life post-Rice far less challenging (though we are all hoping that day never comes). Kamara’s distribution isn’t quite as accurate as Rice’s though. The Frenchman is recording a marginally inferior success rate overall (91.4 < 91.9) but much more significant drop-offs in his passing to the final third (78.1 < 90.9), and progressive passing (75.5 < 82.5). That said, the accuracy of Rice’s passing is of a level that not many players in world football could match, so the fact that Kamara is close should really be viewed as a positive.
With his contract up in the summer, Kamara is rumoured to be available for less than £20m this January, a ridiculously low fee given his undoubted ability. But Moyes and Rob Newman seem to be keen on recruiting from the Premier League with Kalvin Phillips the latest to be linked with a move following an astonishing £50m bid that was apparently instantly rejected. Given Leeds’ need to keep hold of their key players to ensure survival in the Premier League, extricating Phillips from Yorkshire will surely border on the impossible… So, why not turn to Kamara next?
Jack’s rating: A
Kamara’s raw talent alongside his flexibility in being able to play at centre-back or in defensive midfield and comfortability sitting in a deeper screening role would make him an excellent acquisition for West Ham. Arguably other positions should be more of a priority but the idea of being able to use a Rice-Kamara-Souček midfield is far too tempting.
Cal’s rating: A
Kamara is an elite defensive midfielder and that’s pretty much all there is to it. If we were to sign him, it would give Rice the freedom to get further up the pitch and were Rice to leave then we’d have a ready made replacement. The only concern is that, given how good he is, he will likely be chased by most clubs in Europe.
Jack Elderton 