“It’s not goodbye yet. I am still here and as long as I am here the doors are always open for me to bring my family to Montreal. CF Montreal striker Kei Kamara opened up about his situation with the club in a lengthy video on Instagram Friday night.
Kei Kamara has been at the heart of CFM news for a few weeks now, as he refused to show up for training camp and publicly announced that he asked to be traded. The Sierra Leonean, who is entering the option year on his contract with the Montreal team, has finally trained with the team over the past week.
In an 18-minute live video, Kamara said he met with CFM leaders in early October to ask “what the plan was”. “I told them I would like to end my career here, retire here, bring my wife and children here,” he says.
“I was hoping to play two more years,” he continues. Throughout my career, I have always worked very hard because I want to play until I am 40. The conversations were going well. They told me that they certainly saw me playing for a few more years with them, that I could work with them afterwards. I was sold! This is my love story! »
The 38-year-old athlete then recounts having started to do research with his wife in order to find a home and a school for their children. The club then offered him two agreements: one for one year and one for two years.
I had to choose one of the two, but I didn’t want a one-year contract. I said we should work on the two-year deal. With my agent, we therefore made a counter-offer.
Kei Kamara
The leaders of CF Montreal would then have explained to him that there was no possibility of negotiating. The offer was take it or leave it.
“It’s my 18e season in professional soccer and each of my contracts has been negotiated by both parties, he says. It’s true that I said that it was not an offer that would allow me to move to Canada. »
For kids
Throughout his video, Kamara explains that he has had a “love affair” with Montreal since the moment he received the call to play there on February 14, 2022. The forward earned a salary of US$94,000 l last year, according to the specialized site Spotrac. A very meager remuneration considering his production and his positive impact within the team.
Kamara has lived “hardly” the last three months, wondering what will happen with her family. Number 23 insists: he loves the city and wants to live there, but not without his wife and children by his side.
It’s not just a question of what happens on the pitch, but also off it. I want to see my children.
Kei Kamara
“My heart is still here. I like the guys I work with every day here. I am still under contract with Montreal and I respect it. I train, I do whatever they want me to do. It’s out of respect for the guys in the locker room. I want them to prepare in the best possible way for the upcoming season. »
File to follow
So what will happen to Kei Kamara? That remains to be seen. The president of the CFM, Olivier Renard, indicated at the beginning of the week that the contracts which were offered to the athlete were “improved financially”.
He added that the job is “up to Kei’s agent to find the best opportunity for him.” “If there are any clubs interested, let him contact us through his agent. Proceeding the way he did, it may offend us and close the door to a departure, but that’s not what we want to do. »