Kamara Loan Ends

City can confirm @keikamara's loan has now ended and will return to @sportingkc with immediate effect. #ncfc twitter.com/NorwichCityFC/…
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) May 4, 2013

In a move that will be considered shocking by many, Norwich City FC announced today that Kei Kamara's loan has ended and he's returning to Kansas City. The loan was set to end on Monday after Norwich's game today against Aston Villa.  The announcement today after Norwich's 2-1 loss to Villa is a little surprising that it came so soon.

While the announcement from Norwich doesn't state that they won't be purchasing Kamara's contract, the fact that it states that he's returning to Kansas City speaks to them not purchasing Kamara's contract at this time.

I'm a little surprised that Kamara will be leaving the Canaries, he'd played in 11 games for Norwich, starting 7 of them, scoring a goal and adding an assist in that time. But Norwich has struggled for form while Kamara is there and now find themselves only 3 points above the relegation zone, with Wigan, the team occupying the last relegation spot, having a game in hand on them.  They've gone 2-5-4 since Kamara joined the club.

So Kamara returns, at least for now to Kansas City.  I'm still not sure of Kamara's standing in KC long term. Peter Vermes has mentioned that other clubs have shown interest in Kamara since his loan move began.  So I expect the transfer rumors to ramp up for Kamara, especially once the summer window opens for European clubs. I also wouldn't be surprised if Norwich City enters the bidding again later once they've secured their safety. I don't expect Kamara to be with KC by the end of the summer window.

In the mean time, Kamara adds a dynamic aspect to Kansas City's attack that they have lacked a little bit this season.  A guy willing to take someone on one-v-one and can cause match up issues, especially on the wing.  At this point I think we could see CJ Sapong being the one that makes way for Kamara to enter the starting 11.  Another thought is to drop one of the midfielders to the bench, drop Graham Zusi back and insert Kamara in the lineup that way.

Will Kei Kamara Returning to KC?

We're less than a month away from when Kei Kamara's loan to Norwich City is supposed to end. Kamara's loan is set to end on May 6th, two days after Norwich's 3rd to last game, at Carrow Road against Aston Villa. Along with that game, Kamara has 4 games left on his loan deal. At that time Norwich will get to make the decision on whether they are going to purchase Kamara outright with the deal that's in place or not.

That's certainly a big question in Kansas City at this point, regarding whether Kamara is going to return to KC.  Kansas City has done pretty well without Kamara in Kansas City, with Claudio Bieler becoming the main offensive weapon.  That said, Kansas City could certainly use Kamara's dynamic style to give KC a different attacking mindset in different parts of their game. His unpredictability is something that could fit in well with KC's current team. But it's not sure that he's going to return.  I'm still not sure that Kamara will be returning.

In the seven games that Kamara's been available for Norwich, he's played in all seven of those games, starting the last four of those seven.  He's scored a single goal and added an assist as Norwich has gone 2-1-4 in that seven game stretch. Kamara has also endeared himself to the Norwich faithful the same way he did it with Kansas City.

Norwich is still making their decision, but they themselves have been working to make moves as well.  The club has already signed forward, Ricky van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Club in Portugal.  The 24 year old Dutch international though is not the same type of forward as Kamara.  Kamara's main competition for the target spot with Norwich, is the club captain, Grant Holt.  But Kamara may be winning that battle as over the past few weeks, there'd been rumors that Norwich was willing to let Holt leave.  If Holt were to leave that would certainly seem to point to Norwich's interest in keeping Kamara full time.

As Kamara has spent more time with Norwich and continues to get starts for the club, the more I feel that Kamara is not going to be returning to Kansas City.  He's proving that he is good enough to play in one of the best leagues in the world and not look out of place at all.  And while I think Kansas City could certainly use Kamara in the lineup, the team has moved on in many aspects.  And if Kamara does get sold, Kansas City would have funds to help bring in another replacement if they feel they do need someone to replace Kamara. 

Kamara Loaned to Norwich

Sporting KC and Norwich made official today the news that had been rumored for a little while now and was confirmed even more last night by Josh Gardner.  Sporting's leading scorer each of the last 3 seasons is leaving the club for at least the first 10 games of the MLS regular season.  Kei Kamara is joining the Canaries on a loan deal until May 6th pending the club receiving his immigration clearance.  In the grand scheme that is a formality.  Kamara has received his work permit, which is usually the bigger sticking point when it comes to new players signing in England.

As part of the deal, Kamara's contract with MLS has been extended.  Sporting will receive a "substantial loan fee to use as allocation money."  Sporting will receive 2/3rds of the loan fee per MLS rules.  Should Norwich be impressed with Kamara's performance while he is at the club, they will have the option to buy the Sierra Leone international's contract.  If they turn down that option, Kamara will be back in the US and would be available immediately for selection by Sporting.  KC's first game after Kamara's loan ends is May 12th in Houston against the Dynamo. 

While away, Sporting will play 10 games, although Kamara was only likely to play in 9 of them due to a Sierra Leone World Cup qualifier on March 22nd, a day before Sporting play New England.  With the deal announced today, there are 12 games for the Canaries after today's game against Tottenham and the end of Kamara's loan.  Norwich have 2 more league games after Kamara's loan is supposed to end.  The game that will still out for Sporting fans is the March 30th game where Norwich will take on Roger Espinoza and Wigan.

Robb Heineman posted a message on Sporting KC's website regarding the move and the clubs reasoning behind it.  Heineman discussed the climate of soccer in MLS and how players will have the dream of moving on to Europe and trying their luck there.  They don't want to be seen as a club that keeps players from doing that.

I really do agree with Heineman that this was probably the right move to make for the club.  The moves of Roger Espinoza and Kamara especially could lead to KC being able to bring in better players.  The reason for that is KC showing that they're not going to hold a player back from moving on to bigger things.  While it will hurt KC in the near term and hurt for fans of the club who don't want to see one of the best in social interaction leave the team.

Espinoza and Kamara's departures also do another thing in helping Kansas City in the future with players as well.  The development of those players while in KC will speak to Kansas City's and Vermes' ability to coach players up and get them to the next level.  Kamara, for example, came to Kansas City with baggage, he was talked about as a locker room cancer and having a poor attitude.  In KC under Vermes though, Kamara has flourished, especially on the right wing in Vermes' 4-3-3 system, which has gotten him to the point of evening being able to be linked with a move to Norwich.

Good luck to Kamara in England, I hope he does well, but not well enough to get a full time deal, I want him back in Kansas City.  But if he does catch on in England I'll be disappointed, but happy for him and his future.  If he's going to go, now's about the time to do it, he's got only another 1-2 contracts in his career, so getting the pay day now is big for him.

Norwich Put in Bid for Kamara

For the fifth time this year, a Sporting KC player is being linked with a potential move abroad.  Sky Sports in the UK is reporting that Norwich have put in a bid for Sporting KC forward, and last year's leading scorer, Kei Kamara.  Sky is reporting that Kamara, who was named Sierra Leone player of the year, is in the last year of his contract, which would make sense following MLS's traditional 4 year contracts, since he signed one in the offseason after KC traded for him from Houston in 2009. 

The bid according to Sky Sports has been received by the league, the question would be whether both the league and the team agree to selling the player.  Both have to agree to selling the player.  KC has rejected a transfer deal in the past, in fact, OnGoal did that with Eddie Johnson only hours after they bought the team from Lamar Hunt.

With Kamara possibly in the last year of his contract, it brings up an interesting debate, similar to the one that was had last year with Roger Espinoza.  Should KC sell Kamara, looking to cash in on the player, or ride out his contract and potentially let him leave on a free next January the way Espinoza went to Wigan?

I'm sure there will be people on both sides.  Initially I'd say absolutely not do you sell Kamara.  He's one of only 3 players to score 9+ goals each of the last 3 seasons in MLS and led the team in scoring with 11 league goals last year (12 in all competitions). While Sporting have brought in Claudio Bieler to be the go to goal scorer, Kamara's presence on the wing causes defenses all kinds of trouble and would be sorely missed in KC's system.

Whether this happens or not will remain to be seen, but Kamara joins a growing list of Sporting players, along with Espinoza (Wigan), Matt Besler (Southampton), Graham Zusi (West Ham), and CJ Sapong (Arsenal), linked with a move to an EPL club this offseason.  The draw backs of being a successful club in MLS means you're going to see rumors like this from teams looking to bolster their lineup on the cheap.

UPDATE

According to The Daily Mail, Norwich has put in a £1.2 million bid for the striker, that's about $1.9 million US.  Not a bad price considering what MLS clubs normally get, but I'm not sure it's enough to entice KC to sell right now.