Philadelphia Union: Should they Make a Play for Kei Kamara?

The Philadelphia Union are fun again. What difference could a Designated Player striker make to their dream run?

The search for a Designated Player striker isn’t a new one for the Philadelphia Union. During the summer after Earnie Stewart joined the team, there was much talk about the Union adding a striker within the 1 million dollar range.

Kevin Kinkead, from CBS 3 has a tweet about the Union’s intentions below:

Those players don’t normally fall out of thin air but occasionally they do, this time, it’s Kei Kamara. After his blowup with Federico Higuain, the Columbus Crew are apparently looking to trade him to help team chemistry.

After the game Kamara said, “I admire [Orlando City’s] Kaká and [Cyle] Larin connecting. I admire [Montreal’s Ignacio] Piatti and [Didier] Drogba connecting. How many times have me and [Higuain] connected?”

How would Kamara feel about connecting to the end of long balls from a combination of Tranquillo Barnetta and Roland Alberg? They are playmakers that are adept at getting the ball to a target striker (which the Philadelphia Union already have in CJ Sapong) so they would be able to adapt to a playmaker like Kamara.

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There wouldn’t be much time to make the move but Colombus wants to move quickly so there is an outside chance that Kamara is moved. The primary transfer window closes on Wednesday. (MLSSoccer.com notes, “The final cutoff arrives at midnight CT (1 am ET) Thursday morning, on account of the US Soccer Federation’s headquarters in Chicago.”) The secondary window opens on July 4 and runs through August 3.

Sports Illustrated is reporting that the Crew are actively shopping Kamara in advance of the transfer deadline. However, any deal would be complicated by Kamara’s status as a Designated Player, making him ineligible to join teams already possessing a league max of three DPs.

Looking through the league the teams with extra DP spots are D.C. United, the Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City.

Going through those teams the most likely destinations would be Philadelphia, Houston, and New York in terms of the need for a striker and fit within their play style.

Before we analyze potential fit with the Philadelphia Union let’s go over why we’re having this discussion.

The video of Kei Kamara’s altercation is below:

Because of this altercation and the interview that Kamara gave after the game the Colombus Crew suspended Kamara for this weekend’s game against the Colorado Rapids (which he deserved). For the record, I am not saying that I condone Kamara’s actions during the game because this should have been taken care of behind closed doors.

Yesterday Kamara told reporters, “I’m here. I’m ready to train,” continuing to say, “But then I’m given the news that I don’t need to prepare for next week.” So at this point, Kamara’s relationship with the Colombus Crew is becoming irreparable and they have to choose between the star player or the team.

Kamara only makes matters worse with the tweet below:

He leaves the crew with no choices except to bench him or trade him.

Leading us to how Kamara would fit on the Philadelphia Union.

If brought in Kamara would automatically start over or alongside CJ Sapong giving the Philadelphia Union a dynamic target up front. Kamara would probably be a value trade if Earnie Stewart felt that his character was fine making him the perfect target.

Kamara would immediately vault the Union into contender status but the issue would be trying to keep him happy when the team comes first. He could have a negative impact on the great team chemistry that the Philadelphia Union are building and even end up setting the team back a few years depending on who they would have to give up to get him.

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Overall, this is no more than a pipe dream because there is too much risk involved for this deal to be a good idea. The Philadelphia Union will take risks on the transfer market but not with players of Kamara’s salary. Union fans will probably have to wait until the summer for the DP striker of their dreams.