First thing this morning while most KC fans were still in bed, word came out of northern England that Kamara was on a flight to England to finalize a deal for a move to Middlesbrough in the English Championship. Sky Sports shortly after picked up on the news and added the names Crystal Palace, Danish club FC Copenhagen, and Spanish club Rayo Vallecano to the list of potential targets for the Sierra Leone international.
Initially when reading these comments this morning, I laughed them off. The reason for this was the fact that Kamara was already headed to Europe because he was on his way to join the Sierra Leone national team. And to get to Freetown, Sierra Leone he has always had to travel to Europe first. So the news that he was headed to Europe wasn't a big surprise and nothing to get too worked up about. I held that feeling until this:
This is not easy, but sometimes in sports you have to make tough, unpopular decisions. This is one of those days. #skcnation
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) September 2, 2013
With Heineman's comments it turned the situation from speculative into likely. Fans started to really go through the five stages of grief on Twitter and on the Cauldron Facebook page. Worries of how the team would cope with his leaving and who would step up.
As the afternoon has worn on in the US, news continues to trickle out regarding what was going on with Kamara. First the reports that he was at the Newcastle airport on his way for a medical at Middlesbrough, which really killed my theory of him just flying over on his way to Sierra Leone.
Kamara just name-dropped on Sky Sports News, said to have just landed at Newcastle Airport, on his way to Boro for contract talks.
— Andy Edwards (@AndyEdMLS) September 2, 2013
Now here we sit a little over an hour from the deadline and the latest reports are that Kamara is set to sign a two year deal at the Riverside.
A report from Transfer News Central in England says Kei Kamara is nearing a two-year agreement with Middlesbrough FC. #SportingKC
— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) September 2, 2013
I'll continue to update this the rest of the day regarding Kamara's transfer that at this point looks inevitable.
UPDATE: Less than 20 minutes before the deadline, the Kamara deal to Middlesbrough is done per Sky Sports. A two year deal. The rumored transfer fee earlier today was just above $2 million.
Kamara has confirmed the deal is done on Twitter.
Very happy and thankful for this new chapter of my career with Middlesbrough FC (@Boro). Can't wait to meet the boys/fans and get started. 🙏
— KEI KAMARA (@keikamara) September 2, 2013
2 comments:
Wow, this was out of left field. It's unfortunate that our transfer windows don't lineup.
$2 million pays the base salary for the bottom 23 players on the roster.
At least there's plenty of room to pay Saad (currently $46,500).
Not sure if this will mean Zusi stays out right and Feilhaber stays in or that Zusi drops back and Sapong comes in.
Either way the goals by Feilhaber & then Zusi on a Sapong assist now loom larger.
Went through the rosters of teams already out of the playoffs. Unsurprisingly, there's not much there.
Sainey Nyassi, who has been out with a hip abductor strain, is the only winger that caught my eye. He'd struggle to make the 18.
Looks like this is it for 2013.
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