Rangers signed Glen Kamara from Dundee FC for a fee of around £50,000 in the January transfer window, and Steven Gerrard says it’s already looking like a bargain.
Glen Kamara
Kamara spent five years with the Arsenal academy from 2012 to 2017, making plenty of appearances for the u23s and even making a first-team debut in the League Cup. Unfortunately, that first start didn’t go well, as The Gunners lost 3-0 to Sheffield Wednesday, and the Finland international never got another senior opportunity.
Instead, the defensive midfielder left on a free transfer to Dundee FC, where he made 64 appearances before moving to Rangers in January. Since then, he’s started all three games under manager Steven Gerrard, playing in two 5-0 wins and one 0-0 draw.
Speaking in quotes reported by The Courier, Gerrard admitted how impressed he is with the former Arsenal 23-year-old.
“I know it’s a bargain,” Gerrard said. “He’s a top player. He’s been schooled very well at Arsenal. Neil McCann also did an excellent job to take him to the next level while he was at Dundee.
“He fell out of favour with the current manager at Dundee but thankfully we got him in the door earlier than expected and we’re benefiting from that right now.
“He’s playing tomorrow. He just needs to go out and do what he’s been doing since he’s broken into the team, which is playing at a very high level.”
It’s always good to see a player developed by Arsenal having an impact somewhere. Let’s hope Kamara achieves his potential under Gerrard at Rangers.
To find out about another Arsenal academy graduate firing his team to a league title in Greece, click ‘Next’
Chuba Akpom
Chuba Akpom is starting to really make his mark with new club PAOK in Greece, scoring three goals and assisting two in his last six appearances as his club push for the Greek Superleague title.
After completing a summer move from Arsenal to PAOK, Akpom took a while to get into the starting lineup. The Greek club had a couple of established strikers already, and they raced to the top of the league table, making it hard for the Englishman to find a way in.
That changed in January, with former PAOK forward Aleksandar Prijovic completing a £9m move away. Finally, Akpom has had his chance, making his first league start, and many more have followed.
After a couple of games of adaptation, the striker found his feet at the end of last month. First, he won PAOK’s fan man-of-the-match award with an assist in a cup win over Panachaiki.
Then, he built on that performance with two goals and an assist against OFI Crete in the league, winning Vodafone’s MVP award for the game, before scoring and assisting against title challengers Olympiacos in a 3-1 victory.
You can check out the full highlights of his performance against Crete below. Akpom’s first goal, assist and second goal are at 2:30, 3:52, and 4:20 in the video respectively. The second goal is particularly worth a look, an impressive finish from outside the box:
Finally, here’s his goal against Olympiacos:
https://twitter.com/afcDW/status/1094729277898145792