Glen Kamara reveals Daniel Farke favourite influenced him on ‘huge’ transfer from Rangers to Leeds United
Glen Kamara spoke to Teemu Pukki about Daniel Farke before his switch to Leeds United and was told “nothing but good things”, he has revealed.
The new midfield signing told Helsingin Sanomat (5 September) he was “very interested” in joining a “huge” club in the Whites but speaking to fellow Finnish international Pukki “made [his] decision easier”.
Kamara, 27, arrived late on the penultimate day of the transfer window (31 August), just hours after fellow midfield signing Ilia Gruev, having spent the past four and a half seasons at Rangers.
Kamara said of his switch: “To be honest, a move like that is not as complicated as people sometimes think. Of course it can be that sometimes.
“When this came to my attention, I was very interested in it. It’s a huge club with a great history, good coaches and good players. I know the fan base is passionate. Everything was right in this option.”
On the Pukki influence he added: “He said he saw me play. I would guess that he has also seen me play in Finland’s shirt, but also in Rangers. I spoke with Teme [Pukki] and he had nothing but good things to say about the coach. It made my decision easier.
“Hopefully we could get back up right away. We have a good head coach, a good team and good fans to support us.”
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It is probably little surprise that Pukki had positive feedback on Farke having been a key part of the Norwich side that won the Championship twice under the German.
The striker registered 55 strikes in the second tier in those two seasons combined, while adding 11 in the Premier League campaign sandwiched in between.
Kamara’s time at Ibrox was clearly up this summer and his move to Leeds looked logical for some weeks, but it went almost down to the wire before it finally happened, so the fact that he says it wasn’t actually complicated is a slight surprise.
But now that he is in he will need to get match fit after not being a part of the Rangers start to the campaign, or the preseason under Michael Beale.
While Ethan Ampadu and Archie Gray have held the fort well in the middle given the dearth of other options for the first few weeks but the 17-year-old is obviously still raw.
How long it will take after the international break for Farke to turn to Kamara and Gruev will be interesting given the faith he has shown in his current young pairing, but his options needed expanding and one of his previous stand-outs appears to have helped him in that.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared why a Championship club refused the Whites twice over a summer deal.