Mady Camara will undergo his medical with Roma tomorrow and Football Italia looks at who the new Giallorossi signing is and what José Mourinho expects from him.
The 25-year-old will move to the Stadio Olimpico on loan with an option to buy from Olympiacos. According to Gazzetta, ex-Olympiacos boss Pedro Martins suggested Mourinho sign the Guinean midfielder. Camara played 180 games under the Portuguese tactician in Greece.
A defensive midfielder, Camara’s idols are N’Golo Kante and Claude Makelele (as per Sky Sport Italia correspondent Angelo Mangiante), which says a lot about his main characteristics as a footballer. Camara is a defensive midfielder who will bolster José Mourinho’s options in the middle of the park following an injury to Gini Wijnaldum.
The ex-Liverpool star will be forced to the sidelines until January, so the Special One needed one more new face in the middle of the park to deal with a packed fixture list, especially in the first part of the season.
On paper, Wijnaldum has more experience and quality than Camara, who can still be a crucial addition to Mourinho’s squad.
Camara won the Greece title three times and one domestic cup. He has played 22 Champions League games and 29 in Europa League, this season’s European competition for the Giallorossi.
Camara played with former Roma defender Kostas Manolas at Olympiacos. The Greeks were eliminated from the Champions League playoffs earlier this summer and the European disappointment cost the job to Pedro Martins. According to Gazzetta, Camara was heavily criticised by fans and media when Olympiacos were eliminated from the Europe’s elite competition.
The Guinea international didn’t play in the AFCON this past January due to a shoulder problem. According to Gazzetta, his federation didn’t entirely believe that he was really injured and thought he wanted to avoid taking part in the competition, but the midfielder has always denied such allegations.
Camara was already close to joining Roma in 2020 when Football Italia exclusively revealed that the Giallorossi and Milan were interested in the midfielder.
A few year ago, he tweeted a picture of himself as a kid while wearing a 2001-02 Roma shirt. One more sign that a move to the capital was in his destiny.