Diomansy Karmara joins NorthEast United
NORTHEAST UNITED HAVE have boosted their fire-power ahead of the much awaited ISL Domestic Draft and Auction by signing up striker Diomansy Mehdi Moustapha Kamara. The 34 year old Premier League and Serie A veteran was born in Paris though he chose to represent Senegal internationally. For NEUFC, his 17 years of experience in playing for senior club teams across Europe and a knack of quickly adjusting to new playing conditions is expected to prove especially valuable.
Kamara's senior career started at French Division 2 side Red Star Paris, but it was at Italian Serie C2 club Catanzaro where he got some regular minutes for the first time. He spent two seasons over there, scoring 9 goals in 34 appearances. His game reached a certain level of maturity at another Modena, a Serie B side, whom he helped gain promotion to Serie A in 2001-02. For the next two seasons he was a regular starter for them, notching 58 League appearances, scoring 11 times. In 2004, he moved to the Premier League, joining Portsmouth. He was played a prominent role in their League, FA Cup as well as League Cup squad, earning 29 caps with 6 goals along the way. Next summer he moved to West Bromwich Albion, where things did not quite go the way he wanted. West Brom got relegated from Premier League, and he ended up playing in the Championship with them in 2006-07.
He subsequently returned to the Premier League by making a move to Fulham. From 2007-10, he featured sphoradically for them, scoring 12 goals in 59 matches. His last with the club was spent elsewhere, playing out loan spells at Scottish Premiership side Celtics and Leicester City at the Championship.
In June 2011 he joined Turkish Super Lig side Eskişehirspor Kulübü on a free transfer, where he spent the next 3 seasons, playing 95 matches and finding the net 28 times. In 2014, he made a return to his old club Catanzaro, but failed to make it to the first team, before being tapped by the John Abraham-owned ISL franchise from Guwahati.
Although he has not played a professional match in over a year, Kamara, who has represented Senegal in 51 matches and scored 9 international goals, will bring a wealth of valuable experience to the side and fit right in with a midfield studded with prominent names like Mtonga, Silas, Arias and Sabrosa. His inclusion shows that the NEUFC is proceeding with a clear plan that is definitely on track and may come to a dramatic conclusion on 10th July when they take part, for the very first time, in the ISL Domestic Auction & Draft.
