Olympiacos midfielder Mady Camara shoots the ball. (Getty Images)
According to the London Evening Standard, Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Watford are interested in signing Olympiacos midfielder Mady Camara this summer.
Evening Standard also understands that Watford are in a better position to land the 22-year-old Guinean enforcer, with manager Javi Gracia weighing up a £12million deal ahead of the upcoming window.
Camara, however, is focussed on the upcoming African Cup of Nations in Egypt which gets underway on the 21st of June and he will only make a call on his future at the end of the tournament. (h/t Evening Standard)
The 22-year-old has a contract with Olympiacos until the summer of 2023 but he has already attracted interest from several clubs in Germany and Spain and the Greek giants might have a tough job keeping hold of him should the big clubs come calling. (h/t Evening Standard)
Born in Guinea, Mady Camara played for AS Kaloum and Santoba FC in his homeland before moving to France where he went on trial with Ligue 2 club AJ Ajaccio. He signed a professional contract with Ajaccio in 2016 and went on to play a key role in the club’s promotion-push in Ligue 2 in the 2017-18 season, scoring a goal in the playoff semi-finals.
His contribution, however, wasn’t going to be enough to propel Ajaccio to the French top flight but his performances were good enough earn him a move to Greek Super League giants Olympiacos last summer for a reported fee of £2 million.
Camara has been a raging success in his first season in the Greek top flight, accumulating 6 goals and an assist from 24 appearances. The 22-year-old Guinean also proved his worth in the group- stages of the Europa League earlier in the season.
Standing at 6ft. with a well-built frame, Mady Camara is essentially a central defensive midfielder by trade, who is noted for his strength, tenacity, tireless running, stamina, tough-tackling and aggressive style of play. The Guinean, though still very much in the developmental phase of his career, has shown that he has the combined attributes of players like Yaya Toure and N’Golo Kante, with his seemingly indefatigable body and goalscoring prowess from deep midfield making him a youngster in the same mould.
Camara combines his flawless passing with his uncompromised work rate to keep things ticking in the midfield, while also possessing the ability to read the transitions in play and cut out attacks with tackles and interceptions. Calm and comfortable in possession, quick across the ground and adept at outmuscling the opposition in the midfield with his strength, tenacity and drive, the Guinean also has a knack of scoring crucial goals by making late runs into the box.
To put things into perspective, Mady Camara looks like a real talent and he would be an ideal signing for either of the aforementioned Premier League clubs but Newcastle should look at him as an ideal successor to the likes of Issac Hayden and Mo Diame.
Contract talks between Diame and the Magpies have so far failed to reach a positive end and the Senegalese veteran is likely to head for the exit door at the end of the season (h/t Chronicle Live), while Hayden is also expected to leave the club due to family reasons (h/t The Telegraph).
The departure of Hayden and Diame would leave Rafael Benitez with Ki-sung Yueng and this season’s breakout star, Sean Longstaff as options in central midfield, meaning that the Magpies would be short of adequate cover and competition in a key area.
Jonjo Shelvey, of course, is a viable option but given that the former Liverpool man has struggled for form and fitness, Newcastle should look to bring in someone like Mady Camara to add more steel to their midfield.
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Having beaten the drop in their last two seasons in the top flight, it is now time for Newcastle to build a solid platform for the future and Mady Camara is exactly the kind of player they should be looking at in the transfer window.