Boubacar Kamara
Kamara warming up for Marseille in 2022
Personal information
Full name Boubacar Bernard Kamara[1]
Date of birth (1999-11-23) 23 November 1999[2]
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 44
Youth career
2005–2017 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Marseille II 28 (0)
2016–2022 Marseille 130 (3)
2022– Aston Villa 33 (0)
International career‡
2015–2016 France U17 9 (0)
2016–2017 France U18 9 (0)
2017–2018 France U19 14 (0)
2018–2019 France U20 7 (0)
2019–2021 France U21 9 (0)
2022– France 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2023 (UTC)

Boubacar Bernard Kamara (born 23 November 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa and the France national team.[3]

Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also play as a centre-back.[4]

Club career

Marseille

In September 2005, "Bouba", aged 5, entered the Olympique de Marseille Academy where he progressed through all the categories. He eventually became the captain of the U19 team that made its way to the final of the Coupe Gambardella.[5] At the age of 16, he was promoted to Marseille's reserve team, also making his debut with the senior team. As coach of the reserves, Jacques Abardonado made him a regular starter.

Kamara made his debut as a professional side on 13 December 2016 against Sochaux in a Coupe de la Ligue match. He started the match and was replaced by Hiroki Sakai in the 82nd minute of a 1–1 (4–3) away loss on penalties.[6] He scored his first professional goal on 5 February 2019, a header in a 1–0 home Ligue 1 victory over Bordeaux.[7]

Kamara went onto play 170 times for his boyhood club, under several different managers - being utilised mainly as a defensive midfielder, but also featuring as a right-back, left-back, central midfielder and right-sided midfielder.[8]

Aston Villa

On 23 May 2022, it was announced that Kamara had signed a five-year contract with English Premier League club Aston Villa ahead of the expiry of his Marseille contract on 1 July.[9] He made his Aston Villa debut on 6 August 2022, in a 2–0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.[10] On 16 September 2022, during a 1–0 victory over Southampton, Kamara jarred his knee in a tackle with Mohamed Elyounoussi - the subsequent ligament strain ruled Kamara out until November, meaning that he missed the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[11] Kamara returned to the pitch slightly ahead of schedule on 6 November 2022, in a 3–1 victory over Manchester United.[12]

On 27 September 2023, Kamara scored his first goal for Aston Villa in a 2–1 EFL Cup defeat to Everton.[13]

International career

Kamara was eligible to play for the national teams of France through birth, and Senegal through his family heritage. He played youth football for France at U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 levels. Featuring in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship for France.[8]

In 2022, Kamara was contacted directly by Senegal manager Aliou Cissé to convince him to declare for the Senegalese team after their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations victory to fill the space of aging midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyaté.[14]

However, despite Cissé stating that there was an "agreement in principle" between the parties, on 19 May 2022, Kamara was selected in the France first team for the first time.[15] Kamara made his debut on 6 June 2022, as a second half substitute in a 1–1 away UEFA Nations League draw against Croatia, thus committing his international future to France.[16]

Personal life

Kamara was born in France to a Senegalese father and a French mother.[17] Kamara has been a supporter of OM since he was a child after going to the Stade Vélodrome with his mother Cathy.[18] He has two sons, Leeroy and Kingsley, with Coralie Porrovecchio.[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2024[4]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Marseille II 2015–16 Championnat National 2 80————80
2016–17 Championnat National 2 150————150
2017–18 Championnat National 2 40————40
2018–19 Championnat National 2 10————10
Total 280————280
Marseille 2016–17 Ligue 1 000010——10
2017–18 Ligue 1 6020006[lower-alpha 3]0—140
2018–19 Ligue 1 31100005[lower-alpha 3]0—361
2019–20 Ligue 1 2413110——282
2020–21 Ligue 1 35020—5[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 5]0430
2021–22 Ligue 1 34120—12[lower-alpha 6]0—481
Total 13039120280101704
Aston Villa 2022–23 Premier League 2400020——260
2023–24 Premier League 17010116[lower-alpha 7]0—251
Total 410103160—511
Career total 199310151340102495
  1. ↑ Includes Coupe de France, FA Cup
  2. ↑ Includes Coupe de la Ligue, EFL Cup
  3. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ↑ Appearance in Trophée des Champions
  6. ↑ Five appearances in UEFA Europa League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  7. ↑ Appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 18 November 2023[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 202230
202320
Total50

Honours

Marseille

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: France" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Boubacar Kamara". Premier League. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "Aston Villa sign Boubacar Kamara from Marseille on a five-year contract". BBC. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 Boubacar Kamara at Soccerway
  5. ↑ "Boubacar Kamara".
  6. ↑ "Sochaux vs. Olympique Marseille - 13 December 2016 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  7. ↑ "Marseille win behind closed doors". BBC Sport. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  8. 1 2 "Five things to know about Boubacar Kamara". Aston Villa Football Club. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  9. ↑ "Aston Villa announce Boubacar Kamara signing". Aston Villa Football Club. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  10. ↑ "Bournemouth beat Villa on return to top flight". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  11. ↑ "Boubacar Kamara (Aston Villa) probablement forfait pour la Coupe du monde avec les Bleus". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  12. ↑ Preece, Ashley (2022-11-06). "Aston Villa 3-1 Man United reaction and highlights". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  13. ↑ "Calvert-Lewin nets as Everton send Aston Villa out". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  14. ↑ "Boubacar Kamara set to declare for Senegal | Get French Football News". www.getfootballnewsfrance.com. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  15. ↑ "France team: the surprise Boubacar Kamara, who finally chooses the Blues rather than Senegal". California18. 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  16. ↑ "France held by Croatia in Nations League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  17. ↑ Football, Mauritanie (30 October 2016). "Ligue 1 : Boubacar Kamara, un mauritanien promoteur convoqué chez les pros à Marseille". Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  18. ↑ "Olympique de Marseille : Boubacar Kamara, de minot à costaud". May 18, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Coralie Porrovecchio : elle partage des photos inédites de..." Télé Star (in French). 2020-07-23. Archived from the original on 2020-07-24. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  20. ↑ "Kamara, Boubacar". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Atletico Madrid win Europa League with 3-0 victory over Marseille". BBC Sport. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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