Glen Kamara

Glen Adjei Kamara (born 28 October 1995) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Rennes and the Finland national team.

He began his senior career at Arsenal, where he made one substitute appearance in the Football League Cup and was loaned to Southend United and Colchester United. After 18 months at Dundee, he joined fellow Scottish Premiership side Rangers for £50,000. He made the PFA Scotland Team of the Year when they won the league title in 2020–21. In late August 2023 it was announced that he would be leaving Rangers to join Leeds in the EFL Championship. After a successful season with Leeds, Kamara joined French side Rennes for a €10 million fee.

Kamara made his senior international debut for Finland in 2017. He was named in their squad for UEFA Euro 2020. In 2022, he was recognized as Finnish Footballer of the Year by the Football Association of Finland.

Finland
Kamara was born in Tampere, Finland, to refugee parents from Sierra Leone. He was raised in Soukka, in the city of Espoo, until the age of 12, when he moved to London, England, with his mother and sister. In Espoo, Kamara had played football in the youth sectors of Olarin Tarmo –77 in Olari, and in Espoon Palloseura (EPS) in Espoonlahti.

England
Kamara continued his career in England for Sunday side Westway of Ladbroke Grove, before moving to the Southend United youth system and then on to Arsenal in 2012.

At first Kamara joined up with the club's academy. He went on to be an unused substitute for Arsenal's UEFA Champions League match against Galatasaray in December 2014. Kamara made his only appearance for Arsenal a day before his 20th birthday on 27 October 2015, up against Sheffield Wednesday in the Football League Cup fourth round in an eventual 3–0 away loss; he started the match and was substituted for Krystian Bielik after an hour.

On 22 January 2016, Kamara returned to Southend in League One, on loan for the rest of the season. He played six matches, all but one as a starter.

On deadline day of the summer transfer window, 31 August 2016, Kamara joined Colchester United in League Two on loan until January 2017. He played six times, starting just once in the league.

Dundee
On 13 July 2017, Kamara signed a two-year deal with Dundee. He made his debut for the club in a Scottish League Cup game away to Raith Rovers where he put in a man of the match performance.

Rangers
On 5 January 2019, Kamara signed a pre-contract with Rangers on a four-and-a-half-year deal. On 31 January, this deal was brought forward when the two clubs agreed to a £50,000 transfer. He scored his first goal in senior club football on 27 February 2019, opening a 4–0 home win over his former club Dundee.

On 18 March 2021, Kamara accused Slavia Prague player Ondřej Kúdela of racist verbal abuse during a Europa League knockout match. Kúdela denied the claims of racism and claimed that after the match Kamara physically assaulted Kúdela in the stadium tunnel in front of UEFA officials and Rangers manager Steven Gerrard. Ahead of the Old Firm derby, Celtic and Rangers players stood side by side in support of Kamara. On 14 April, UEFA officially found both Kamara and Kúdela guilty. Kúdela was banned for racial abuse for 10 UEFA matches, while Kamara was handed a three-match ban for assault.

On 22 September 2021, Kamara signed a new four-year contract with the club that would see him remain with the club until the summer of 2025. Days later, he was sent off away to Sparta Prague, a game in which his every touch was booed in relation to the Kúdela abuse; UEFA found insufficient evidence of a racial motive and did not punish the club.

Kamara was an integral part of the Rangers squad in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League. He scored an important goal against RB Leipzig in the second leg of the quarter finals, and helped Rangers to reach to the finals of the competition, where they eventually fell short to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties, and won the silver medal.

Leeds United
On 31 August 2023, Kamara signed a four-year deal with English club Leeds United for an undisclosed fee. However, the transfer fee was reported in media to be around €5.8 million. He became the fifth Finnish player to sign for Leeds after Sebastian Sorsa, Mika Väyrynen, Mikael Forssell and Aapo Halme.

Kamara made his debut for Leeds in the EFL Championship on 2 September 2023, as a late substitute in a 0–0 home draw against Sheffield Wednesday. On 18 February 2024, after his first 25 matches in Championship, Kamara had a successful passing rate of 93.5%.

Rennes
On 16 July 2024, Kamara joined Ligue 1 club Rennes for a reported €10 million fee, signing a deal until June 2028.

International career
Kamara represented Finland at under-19 and under-21 level. He was an unused substitute for the senior side in a friendly against Estonia in June 2015. On 9 November 2017, he made his debut in a 3–0 victory over the same country in a friendly match. He scored his first international goal to conclude a 2–0 home win over Greece in the UEFA Nations League on 15 October 2018.

Kamara was called up for Finland's first major tournament, the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 in June 2021.

He played in all 10 games in Finland's UEFA Euro 2024 qualification campaign, scoring once.

International

 * Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kamara goal.

Honours
Rangers
 * Scottish Premiership: 2020–21
 * Scottish Cup: 2021–22
 * Scottish League Cup runner-up: 2019–20, 2022–23
 * UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2021–22

Individual
 * PFA Scotland Team of the Year: 2020–21 Scottish Premiership
 * Finnish Footballer of the Year: 2022