Lawrie Sanchez, the Fulham manager, believes Diomansy Kamara is ready to prove himself in the top flight after sealing the striker’s signature.
The Senegal international has moved to Craven Cottage for a fee believed to be in the region of £6 million after a productive season for West Bromwich Albion.
Kamara, 26, scored 23 goals for West Brom but the club’s season ended with a heart-breaking play-off final defeat to Derby County which left them in the Coca-Cola Championship for another season.
That failure prompted immediate interest from Sanchez, who insists he has no concerns about a player who failed to make an impact in the Premier League with Portsmouth or West Brom. “Any player you take up from the Championship is a gamble,” Sanchez said. “He was at Portsmouth and it didn’t work out for him but he has had a couple of great seasons with West Brom and now is a chance to step back up to the Premiership.
“Any player that comes to English football finds it a shock to the system, but having had two years of it, it is now a chance to step up and prove himself at this level. His pace will get him in good situations and there’s no doubt about the quality of his finishing.”
Advertisement
The former Northern Ireland manager added: “We were interested him right from the end of last season when West Brom didn’t get up. He will add pace to our attack and we are pleased to have got him nailed down. The lad always wanted to come it was just a case of the clubs finalising the details, but it was pretty much agreed from the first moment.”
Sanchez also told fans to expect more new faces at the club before next month’s big kick-off. “We needed some pace added to the team,” he said. “In the Prem you do need pace in certain areas and I didn’t feel we had enough. Now we have a bit more and I hope we will find more. We are still looking at three or four more players and we are hopeful we will get them before the window closes. But we have to make sure they are the right ones for the direction in which we’re going.”