Boubacar Kamara

About

Boubacar Bernard Kamara (born 23 November 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also play as a centre-back.

In September 2005, “Bouba”, aged 5, entered the Olympique de Marseille Academy where he progressed through all the categories. He eventually became the captain of the U19 team that made its way to the final of the Coupe Gambardella. At the age of 16, he was promoted to Marseille’s reserve team, also making his debut with the senior team. As coach of the reserves, Jacques Abardonado made him a regular starter.
Kamara made his debut as a professional side on 13 December 2016 against Sochaux in a Coupe de la Ligue match. He started the match and was replaced by Hiroki Sakai in the 82nd minute of a 1–1 (4–3) away loss on penalties. He scored his first professional goal on 5 February 2019, a header in a 1–0 home Ligue 1 victory over Bordeaux.
Kamara went onto play 170 times for his boyhood club, under several different managers – being used mainly as a defensive midfielder, but also featuring as a right-back, left-back, central midfielder…