With just days left before Christmas, the Revolution have been hard at work filling out their roster for the upcoming 2020 MLS season. With a striker and a left-back already being brought in from leagues outside America, the last piece of the puzzle was yet to be found until earlier Monday morning. The need for a stonewalled experienced centerback has been a key point in transfer windows ever since the departure of Jose Goncalves following the 2016 season that saw the team miss the playoffs for the first time since 2012. With that in mind, the team announced Monday morning that they had signed 27-year-old French centerback Samba Camara from Ligue 2 side Le Havre, his hometown club. Camara’s playstyle is eerily similar to that of Goncalves, but with much more time to play in his career and MUCH more experience.Camara was born in Le Havre and spent his entire 7-year career with his home club. Though he would only score three goals and bag six assists in that time, he has amassed over 12,000 professional minutes, a staggering number for a player of his age. Camara’s durability is not to be overlooked either, as the Frenchman has never suffered through a true injury, playing in nearly every single match over the past 7 years.
In the same breath, in the 140 appearances Camara has had, he’s started in 136 of them and clearly proven to the Revs FO that his presence is certainly one that will be welcomed on the Gillette Stadium turf this upcoming season. The signing was completed through the team’s usage of TAM (Targeted Allocation Money) which was sent to Le Havre in exchange for the defender.
Some Revs fans certainly may have cringed seeing the name Samba again, however, after the 2016 “Sambinha Experiment” crashed and burned after the Sporting CP B Team centerback joined the Revs prior to the season beginning to showcase the partnership between New England and the Portuguese club. After only 2 appearances, Samba had directly contributed to one goal against, whiffing on an easy clearance attempt in his own third in a game against FC Dallas that lead to a subsequent breakaway goal, and was promptly let go soon thereafter.
I’m just as eager as anyone to see what next season holds, and with practically every single area of need filled, and Bruce at the helm, the possibilities are endless. With the transfer window still open, the opportunity for even one more signing isn’t as far-fetched as many may think. One thing is for certain however, the 2020 New England Revolution will be a Revs team unlike any in recent memory, and man am I excited.
Photo: (Panoramic/Orange FC)
