By: Jake Mackey
The New England Revolution made a big-time move on Thursday by acquiring forward Kei Kamara from the Columbus Crew SC in exchange for allocation money, the Revs highest first round pick in the 2017 super draft, their highest second rounder in the 2018 super draft, and one of the Revs international roster spots for this season.
Kei Kamara is a 6-3, 190 pound forward from Sierra Leone. Kamara has been a star scorer since he came to the MLS in 2006. He has 79 career goals, which is second among active players in the league. The good news for Revs fans is his best days may not be behind him. 2015 was a career year for Kamara. In 32 appearances, Kamara scored 22 goals (tied for league high) with eight assists for Columbus in route to their MLS Cup appearance. Kamara had four goals in last season’s playoffs, which led the league. He was runner up for the league MVP.
Revolution general manager Michael Burns told the media on Thursday, “We have been looking to strengthen our team and we feel this addition accomplishes just that. Kei is a player who has had success and is a proven goal scorer in MLS. We’re pleased we were able to get this deal done and look forward to Kei’s arrival and integration into the team.”
Kamara also has some European soccer experience. In 2013, Kei was loaned to Norwhich City of the Barclays Premier League from his MLS team at the time, Sporting Kansas City.
This move certainly has a Jermaine Jones 2014 feel to it. After Jones was acquired in the summer of 2014 after his tremendous World Cup performance, the Revs went 10-2-2 down the stretch on their way to an Eastern Conference Championship, and falling just short of the MLS Cup championship in Los Angeles. Fans of the New England Revolution can only hope this move has a similar effect, because currently their squad sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a abysmal record of 1-7-3.
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