Kei Kamara, the second-highest goal scorer among active Major League Soccer players, is coming to the New England Revolution with hopes of kick-starting their faltering season.
The Revolution announced in a statement Thursday the acquisition of Kamara in a trade from the Columbus Crew. The Revolution exchanged general- and targeted-allocation money, a first-round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, a second-round pick in the 2018 SuperDraft and one international roster spot for the 31-year-old striker.
A source told ESPN that the Revolution traded over $300,000 in allocation money to Columbus for the Sierra Leone international.
Kamara has scored 79 goals in 234 MLS games over 10 years, second only to Chris Wondolowski among active MLS players. Kamara enjoyed a dominant 2015 season, scoring a (joint) league-high 22 goals for Columbus. He helped the Crew to a runner-up finish in the MLS Cup playoffs and finished second in the voting for the MVP Award.
He has scored five goals in nine games this season.
New England and Columbus completed the trade just before 1 a.m. ET when the MLS transfer window closed until July.
The Revolution have struggled in 2016, winning only one and drawing seven of their 11 games so far this season.
“We have been looking to strengthen our team, and we feel that this addition accomplishes just that,” Revolution general manager Michael Burns said in a statement released by the team. “Kei is a player who has had success and is a proven goal scorer in MLS. We’re pleased we were able to get this deal done and look forward to Kei’s arrival and integration into the team.”
Kamara’s departure from Columbus comes just days after the Crew suspended him for one game after he and Frederico Higuain argued over a penalty kick.
The fall-out from that spat now has pushed Kamara onto his fifth MLS team since 2006.
Thumbnail photo via Greg Bartram/USA TODAY Sports Images
