Kei Kamara, the third all-time leading scorer in MLS history, has requested a trade away from CF Montréal.
The 38-year-old striker voiced the news on his Twitter account Wednesday morning. Kamara, who has 139 goals in 391 regular-season matches, was Montréal’s second-leading scorer in 2022 (9g/7a) as they achieved their best-ever MLS campaign.
“For once, I threw all my eggs in one basket telling my family I found a place we can call home, finish my playing career and possibly more, but looks like it was just a dream,” Kamara wrote. “ … Mentally it has been a difficult offseason, but I have no regrets being a part of such a wonderful group in 2022.”
Should Kamara depart, it’d continue an exodus of key players. While DP midfielder Victor Wanyama is back, three linchpins – midfielder Djordje Mihailovic (to AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands), midfielder Ismael Kone (to Watford FC in England) and defender Alistair Johnston (to Celtic FC in Scotland) – have all been transferred abroad.
Montréal will also have a new coach after Wilfried Nancy departed to lead the Columbus Crew. Just before the new year, they hired former D.C. United manager Hernán Losada to build off their second-place finish in the Eastern Conference standings from 2022.
Kamara signed with Montréal last February as a free agent, then his contract option for 2023 was exercised. Montréal are Kamara’s ninth MLS team after successful stretches with the Columbus Crew, Sporting Kansas City and more.
The former Sierra Leone international originally joined MLS in 2006. He is six goals behind Landon Donovan in the league’s all-time goals leaderboard (145).
Aside from Kamara, Montréal's main strikers are Mason Toye and Romell Quioto.
