Minnesota United recently acquired 20 year old Attacking Midfielder Momoh "Mika" Kamara via loan with purchase option. He was added to the MNUFC2 roster last month, but had been competing in the u20 AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) tournament during the month of May, which delayed his move by a few weeks. He has since gotten his immigration paperwork sorted out this week, and is now on his way to start the next step in his journey with Minnesota.
Who is Momoh Kamara and why so much excitement over a player that was signed to the 2nd team?
As seen from the above photo, he has come away with quite a bit of hardware in recent months. This is a player who has been generating a ton of buzz with his recent performances at the international level both with Sierra Leone's youth international team and also with their senior national team. To the point that there are numerous recent claims on African publications that rate Momoh as one of the top u20 prospects in all of Africa. During the u20 AFCON tournament last month, Momoh was awarded as the Best Player during the group stage, was the Golden Boot winner for most goals scored in the tournament, and he also was named to the tournament's best XI. A few months ago, he also made his senior national team debut with Sierra Leone playing in some very meaningful games (2 World Cup Qualifiers). He even came away with an excellent assist in one of those matches in a 3-1 win against Guinea-Bissau.
Despite all of the recent buzz for the recently turned 20 year old player, he didn't just come out of nowhere. Momoh is a player that has had a lot of eyes on him over the past few years. From what I've gathered, he had a some tough breaks beyond his control that had stalled his ascension to playing for a bigger club.
A recent article by Pan Africa Football featuring an interview with an agent that has worked with Momoh had some interesting bits of information in regards to Momoh's talent level:
This situation with Braga led to a period of time in 2023 where Momoh was with without a club. It sounds like this happened not because of Momoh, but unfortunately the people around him (Agent/Family?). He then eventually signed with Leixoes, which is a 2nd tier team in Portugal in 2024. However, once again things beyond his control appeared to pop up and he had issues with his work permit and was unable to play. In Momoh's last full season playing for a club, he had 12 Goals and 7 Assists as a 17 year old playing in the Sierra Leone Premier League with Diamond Stars including this banger of a goal.
Highlights
Here's a clip of all of his touches (and Hat Trick) against Egypt last month at the u20 AFCON tournament.
This is a 7 minute clip highlighting his skills from a couple years ago when he was 17 years old.
Momoh Kamara's Playstyle
Dynamic dribbler that likes to drive forward taking on defenders 1v1 on the dribble.
Generally plays as more of an Attacking Midfielder with versatility to play in other spots in the attack.
Consistently shoots from distance. Has several absolute bangers to his name already.
He's 5'7", but is very solidly built. Despite his smaller stature he has shown he can fight through contact even while playing with his Senior National Team
Explosive athlete that thrives on the counter attack
Quality passer that often looks to advance the attack forward. Including some nice longer range passes that can be seen in the highlights above.
What does this mean for Momoh Kamara and Minnesota United?
As mentioned above, Momoh was signed to MNUFC2 (via loan with a purchase option). Meaning he is currently going to play for the 2nd team. It seems safe to say that Momoh isn't a "run of the mill" 2nd team signing and certainly appears to have the talent to be a 1st team caliber player at some point. With new MLS roster rules this season, teams can call a player up to the 1st team from the 2nd team a total of 4 times before they need to sign them to a 1st team contract to continue to utilize them. Minnesota United is going to have a bunch of matches as we enter the 2nd half of the MLS season. They are still in the US Open Cup, have Leagues Cup in August, and have a busy MLS schedule while dealing with some players away on International Duty.
With that said, Momoh just turned 20 years old last month and is making a big move from Africa to Minnesota. Meaning it may take him some time to acclimate and make an impact (especially with the 1st team). Minnesota should have a pretty good support network for Momoh to adjust as they generally seem to do a good job of integrating the players they sign from all the different countries they bring in. In Momoh's case, there already will be some familiarity as MNUFC2 features one of his youth international teammates in Alpha Kabia. Both of whom are from the same hometown (Freetown, Sierra Leone). Momoh has shown that playing on "bigger stages" isn't too much for him with his impact in World Cup Qualifiers and the u20 AFCON tournament. I do think he has the talent to get some looks with the first team over the next few months even if that doesn't happen "right away".
In some ways it kind of feels like Minnesota signed a "u22 initiative caliber talent" and were able to take advantage of some of the unique circumstances that Momoh has been dealing with the past couple years to bring him in to the 2nd team as a "low risk/high reward" type acquisition. I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of impact he will make with the 2nd team in the coming weeks.