Rangers outcast Glen Kamara opens up on ‘f***** up’ pre-season and Celtic ace’s words of wisdom over Leeds United move
GLEN KAMARA was urged to make the move to Leeds United by an ex-Celtic star - but found the jump a big one from Rangers.
Not necessarily in the level of quality, but in terms of the intensity after training on his own in his latter days at Ibrox.
Kamara cut a peripheral figure in his final season with Rangers, and completed 90 minutes just six times throughout the campaign under Giovanni van bronckhorst and Michael Beale.
Frequently linked with a move away from the club he was eventually snapped up by Leeds United, but he admits the move was a shock to the system.
And he puts that down to a "f***** up pre-season" where he didn't feature in Michael Beale's re-shaped squad plans.
Moving to the Championship - where Leeds now sit third - took time to settle and get up to speed.
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After signing on deadline day Kamara managed two appearances of a combined NINE minutes under Daniel Farke.
But he's started all but two games sincecompleting his first 90 minutes in six months in late September.
He explained: "The first couple of weeks it was quite hard. I was just getting my fitness back and I hadn't played a lot.
"I was kind of training on my own away from Rangers, so it was quite tough. But it's good now and I'm feeling settled.
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"Yeah, with more game time and that. Like I said I had quite a f***** up pre-season in itself and I feel like I am getting back to myself and playing more games than I have over the last year."
Fans have welcomed the Finland international's recent displays.
Steven Gerrard once dubbed his £50,000 signing as a 'Rolls-Royce' and one Leeds fan said: "Glen Kamara is a modern day Olivier Dacourt."
Another added: "Love this guy. Just showing how good he is. Him and Ethan the best midfield partnership in the championship, possibly even lower end Premier League. Absolute wall of defence."
And the move to Yorkshire was also given the seal of approval from a former CELTIC star.
Teemu Pukki is Kamara's international team-mate and urged him to make the switch from his Ibrox isolation.
Kamara revealed the talks on The Official Leeds United podcast.
He added: "[Pukki] messaged me and had a word with me.
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"He only had good things to say about the manager. I was like okay, I'm excited and after I spoke to the manager, it just confirmed what he said."
The duo will link up again this week for matches against Northern Ireland and San Marino to round off the Euro 2024 qualifying groups.
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