Having produced famous stars such as Mane, Haaland, Upamecano, Keita and Sobosloy, who played in the five major leagues, Red Bull Salzburg has been regarded by many as the top arsenal in Europe. Originally thought that the next boutique would be Adejemi in the front, he did not expect the 22-year-old back Kamala to become famous against Bayern. Which giant will take down this "new Kanter" this summer?
01. The real arsenals of Europe: from Manehaland to Adeyami and Kamala
As can be seen from the List of Red Bull Salzburg's 10 Biggest Demon Stars transfers from the German Transfer Network, in addition to Soriano (and of course Alain), who joined the Chinese Super League, the other 9 have become the top five league players in Europe.
This includes Haaland, Mane, Keita, Upa Mecano and Dhaka, Carl, Sobosloy, Hydara, which have been competing in the Champions League for many years and belong to the top level of European football.
The two most sought-after new stars for Red Bull Salzburg are Adejemi in the front line and Kamala at the back of 22. Born in Mali, Kamala was bought by the Austrian giants in 2018 after leading the Mali U17 national team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Series as captain.
Kamala, who was only 17 years old at the time, signed with the team until 2022, and then renewed his contract until 2025 for his outstanding performance.
This season, Kamala has been the core of Salzburg's midfield, and also represented the Mali national team in the African Cup of Nations at the beginning of the year. Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal are the two European teams that pay the most attention to him, but after this round of Champions League knockouts, I believe more giants will be interested in him.
Good at steals and dribbling, with good physical flexibility and flexibility, Kamala, who is 1.75 meters tall, is quite similar to Kante in many ways. He even said that his passing skills at his feet were slightly better than Kante's.
In this match against Bayern Munich, Kamala won 17 of the 22 one-on-one matches, and also instigated his own goal, almost becoming the big hero of Red Bull Salzburg's victory over Bayern. Voted best player after the game, Camara has a good chance of switching to the big club this summer.
02. 6 steals 2 interceptions 1 clearance: New Kante defended Levan with 0 shots on goal
Born on 6 January 2000, the 22-year-old Kamala is 1.75 metres tall and can play as a centre-back and a midfielder on the pitch, is good at dribbling and steals, has a fast movement speed, and has good ball possession skills.
In this season's Champions League, he has averaged 1.7 passes per game (a 71% success rate) and won 7.9 one-on-one matches per game (success rate of 60%), which is quite outstanding.
Kamala has a wide range of control on the defensive end and he can pull away to the wing at any time. Because it's fast, it's flexible, and it's a good tackle and speed. This time, after a teammate's mistake, he quickly moved sideways and shoveled the ball off the sideline.
In this game, Levan scored eight zeros including shooting statistics on the offensive end, while winning only 3 of the 13 one-on-one matches. Although Camara is not the one directly eyeing Levan, he did succeed in cutting off Bayern's attack into the core area.
As you can see from the GIF, this time when Sane stepped forward without the ball, Kamala was excellently stuck in the pass line between the Bayern ball carrier and Sane and Levan.
The pass at the far end of the transfer was intercepted by the Salzburg full-back, but after the second drop point was picked up by Sane, Kamala rushed up in time to complete the break, leaving Levan in the middle of the road with no chance of getting the ball.
Looking at the defense this time, it is a similar situation. When Bayern's outside line bearer tried to find Müller in the ribs of the big penalty area, he was cut off by a quickly moving Kamala. After getting the ball, Kamala still has a certain ability to control the ball and is not in a hurry to get the ball.
03. Not only defensive line sharps: it also has a certain ability to advance and organize advancement
According to this statistic, in addition to 17 of the 22 one-on-one confrontations, 6 steals, 2 interceptions and 1 clearance, Kamara also has 7 attempts and 6 successful surprises. Despite the small number of passes, the several organizational advances in the Kamala match were still eye-catching.
With excellent flexibility and flexibility, Kamala can control the second drop point of the high ball very well, while having a good ability to protect the ball and get rid of it, and can also organize the advance on the spot after holding the ball.
This time he even had a second follow-up to the front to pick up the ball, and then passed it to Alam on the flank, who sent a high-quality cross into the box to find Adeyami's header.
Looking at the offensive and defensive transition this time, Kamala once again controlled the opportunity to complete the break after the high ball fell. Then the back guard passed back to the teammate, and then withdrew the ball for the second time to organize the advance, and the ball was given to Adeyami on the flank.
The goal of Red Bull Salzburg in this game was precisely Kamala's long pass directly to Adeyemi, launching a sword-sealed counter-attack to break the goal. Camara's passing stability is still good, especially the split to the space on both sides.
Relatively speaking, Kamala's absolute strength is not very good, although his coverage is quite large, but it is more suitable for the overall defensive system to complete the sudden up grab, not suitable for one person to block a whole area (55 goals against the failure is not a minority, will use flexibility to destroy or unblock).
Currently signed to Red Bull Salzburg until 2025, any team that wants to get him will definitely need to be prepared for a hefty transfer fee.
Conclusion:
A midfielder who can carry the ball and steals is very popular in today's football world, after all, most teams want to have a Kante of their own. When Brighton will be similar to the play of Bisuma for £40 million, the 22-year-old Kamala will certainly be a more cost-effective and even more potential presence.