Aston Villa have completed their second signing of the summer, the club confirmed on May 23. Midfielder Boubacar Kamara joins the club on a free transfer from Olympique Marseille, despite strong interest from 2020/21 LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid.
The Frenchman has signed a five-year deal with the Villans to become their second signing of the summer; days earlier, Villa confirmed the capture of Philippe Coutinho on a permanent deal following a short, successful loan spell from FC Barcelona.
The 22-year-old had attracted interest from some of Europe’s top sides, but none more so than Atletico. The 2020/21 Spanish champions led the race to sign the 22-year-old on a free transfer this summer as per multiple reports; Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus, and several other top clubs, too, were linked with the services of the versatile midfielder.
Speaking to the club’s website, manager Steven Gerrard expressed his satisfaction at being able to sign one of Europe’s “most promising young talents”:
“I am delighted that we have been able to attract one of the most promising young talents in European football. We have a very clear plan to make our team stronger and Bouba is an important part of that,”
he said.
Comfortable as both a defensive midfielder and a centerback, Kamara played 48 games for Marseille during a season of close calls and near finishes; the youngster accumulated just short of 4000 minutes across all competitions as Les Olympiens fought for silverware on both the cup fronts. While that is not in his job description, he also contributed with one goal in the league.
Born and bred in Marseille, Kamara joined the Olympique academy in 2005 before graduating to the reserve team in 2016. He subsequently made it to the first team a year later and went on to play for them 170 times.
A regular with the France youth teams, Kamara was called up to the French national team by Didier Deschamps for the first time for the upcoming international window. The midfielder could be handed his senior international debut by Deschamps against one of Denmark, Croatia, or Austria early next month.
