Portsmouth manager, John Mousinho, laughed at the suggestion his side had submitted a bid for Norwich City forward, Abu Kamara, who played a big part in the club’s League One title win last season while on loan.
Kamara broke through on the coast
Former Oxford United player and now Portsmouth manager, John Mousinho, took a chance on Kamara last season, bringing the 20-year-old in on loan from Norwich.
Despite averaging almost a goal every game for The Canaries U21’s, Kamara was only given three cameos for Norwich’s senior side. Portsmouth stepped in ahead of the 2023/24 season however, and offered the forward a shot at regular football in the third tier.
The loan was later heralded as a masterful move as Kamara netted eight goals and set up a further ten while appearing in every single game within Portsmouth’s League One triumph.
The Norwich forward’s form has caught the eye of Premier League sides
Unfortunately for Pompey, Kamara’s time with them was so eye-catching that moves to both the Premier League as well as Champions League clubs have been touted.
Pete O’Rourke revealed in early July that Belgian giants, Anderlecht, were targeting the 20-year-old forward ahead of the summer.
As are Thomas Frank’s Brentford who have a reputation for developing talent from the EFL with Ivan Toney, Keane Lewis-Potter and Ethan Pinnock all being plucked from the Championship and League One.
The Bees are reported to be tracking Kamara according to TEAMTALK and have previously reported interest from 2023 when Football Insider revealed that Brentford had concrete interest, but seemingly never acted upon it.
John Mousinho has laughed at claims Portsmouth have bid for Kamara
Although Pompey’s director, Rich Hughes, has refused to rule out a south-coast return for Kamara, admitting only on the 12th of July “we would never want to rule that [Kamra returning] out, because if we could find a scenario to bring Abu back, we’d absolutely love to”. (The News)
Hughes admitted Kamara’s startling performances have decreased Pompey’s chances of a permanent deal stating, “The truth is he exceeded a lot of expectations and performed to a really high-level last season, which personally puts him into a really strong position”.
However, Football Insider announced that Portsmouth were preparing to send a formal offer to Norwich for Kamara, a report to which manager John Mousinho has now responded.
Speaking to The News, Mousinho laughed “I did see the rumours. I do chuckle when they talk about readying a bid or preparing a bid, it’s like we are baking a cake!”
Later revealing, “If we’re going to put a bid in, we’d just put it down on a piece of paper and send it in – which we haven’t done.”
Norwich are believed to be reluctant to sell Kamara
The Canaries have recently appointed a new manager in Johannes Hoff Thorup, who replaced David Wagner after the German was dismissed following his side’s embarrassing 4-0 second-leg loss to Leeds United in the play-offs.
Despite Mousinho’s assumptions that ‘the new manager at Norwich will want to have a proper look at him before making a decision’, it seems as though The Canaries remain reluctant to sanction a sale, but could be tempted should a significant offer arrive, according to Football Insider.