Name: Mohamed Kamara

Squad Number: 44

Position: Midfielder

Nationality: Sierra Leonian

Contract Expires: July 2016

Known as Medo to supporters, the defensive midfielder put pen to paper in signing his first professional contract in 2006 for Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS). It wasn’t however until the side were relegated and he made the switch to top flight club Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (HJK) after just 1 season, that the Sierra Leone born midfielder rose to prominence; helping them to become champions of Veikkausliiga. The young talent won ‘player of the season’ in his first year with the club and was awarded with a 3 year contract extension in March 2008. He would also go on to win this award again in 2010. Medo went on to make 91 appearances for the first team scoring 13 goals in the process before leaving in 2010 to begin the next chapter of his career, a story which would be told in Serbia.

After seeing out his contract at HJK, Medo uprooted away from the Finnish capital and signed a 3 year contract with Serbian club Partizan on the 31st August 2010. The midfielder made his debut for the club in the September of that year and would go on to make 52 appearances for the club including 5 in the UEFA Champions League. Partizan won the Serbian SuperLiga twice in successive seasons during Medo’s 2.5 year stay, before the transfer deadline day of January 2013 in which Medo signed for Dougie Freedman’s Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee in the region of £300,000.

Medo saw a quiet entry into the Football League and it wasn’t until his first full season that fans were exposed to the type of player he truly is, a feisty, gritty, no nonsense midfielder who is strong on the ball and can pick a pass. During the 2013/14 season he would offer stiff competition to Jay Spearing in the holding midfield role and the pair were regularly rotated in a system that worked well over the course of the season. Medo made 35 appearances last season scoring twice.

As for this season the 26 year old has been a feature of the pre-season games played in preparation for the opener against Watford on Saturday and has made a good claim to becoming a regular in the side. However with the recent appointment of Jay Spearing as club captain for the 2014/15 season it seems as though the manager is looking to him as a backup only, and his weekends may begin to consist of warming the bench for the many other midfield talents in our ranks at present. However as always in football I see no reason as to why if he works hard off and on the pitch that he won’t be a part of Dougie Freedman’s long term plan for success and glory. Given his hard working attitude and strong mentality Medo could prove a dark horse this season.